TIA schedules asphalt rubber symposium at 2010 Environmental Symposium

ERJ staff report (TB)

Ocean City, Maryland -- “Greening Highways Means Saving Money and the Environment,” a seminar on the uses of asphalt rubber, is one of many sessions planned for the 2010 Environmental Symposium scheduled for Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in Ocean City, Maryland by the Tire Industry Association's (TIA) Environmental Advisory Council.

The session will mark a first-time opportunity for tyre retailers and other attendees to hear a diverse group of asphalt rubber experts discuss new highway construction techniques, innovative asphalt products and successful programs to deploy rubberised asphalt pavement across the US, TIA said.

Asphalt rubber has come into its own as a useful, cost-effective “green” technology, said Doug Carlson of Liberty Tire Recycling, the session's scheduled moderator, in a TIA press release.

“In the 'old days' of the 1990s, tyre rubber used to cost more than asphalt and was a patented process,” Mr. Carlson said. “Today, it is about half the cost of liquid asphalt, and standard specifications for rubberised asphalt are part of the public domain.”

Asphalt rubber allows state and municipal agencies to stretch their highway maintenance dollars by laying high-quality, eco-friendly pavements, TIA said. The material has been in wide use in such states as California, Florida and Arizona for 20 years, and now Northeastern states such as Massachusetts and New Jersey are taking advantage of rubberised asphalt technology.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)

Press release from TIA