Wonder why this has not been tried in Winipeg before now? Or has it? If so why did it fail?
cbc news
An experimental mix of asphalt and recycled rubber tires will be laid down along a stretch of Winnipeg's Portage Avenue this week as a test to determine how well it resists wear and tear.
A similar mix is already being used in Alberta, where it has been found to last two to four years longer than regular asphalt, according to Lester Deane, an engineer with the City of Winnipeg's public works department.
"It's more resistant to cracking and rutting," he said. "It's also supposed to reduce ice build-up in that it's a little bit flexible, so when ice starts forming, the traffic will actually flex the pavement and cause the ice to crack and mitigate the ice build up."
The mix costs about 30 per cent more than regular asphalt, but could divert tonnes of old tires from being dumped in landfills, said Deane.
He said the mix was put down on a pedestrian cycle path along Bishop Grandin last summer with good results.
Now it's time to try it out where there is heavier traffic, Deane said.
"We've decided to go right to a full-blown test of the material. So we're going to use it on Portage Avenue, arguably one of our higher-profile and high-traffic roadways in both truck traffic, bus traffic and car traffic," he said.
Weather permitting, 800 metric tonnes of the mix will be put down on three eastbound lanes on Portage Avenue between Unicity Mall and Cavalier Drive. The covering will be monitored for seven years to see if it performs better than regular asphalt.
If so, more roads and possibly provincial highways will be resurfaced with the same material, Deane said.
