Hydraulic Conductivity (Permeability) of Tire Shreds

The permeability of tire shreds is much greater than most granular soils, with experimental values ranging from 0.58 cm/s to 23.5 cm/s.  Table 1 lists hydraulic conductivity values for tire shreds.

Table 1. Summary of reported hydraulic conductivities of tire shreds

Particle size (in.)	Void ratio	Dry density (pcf)	Hydraulic conductivity (cm/sec)	Reference
2.5		29.0	5.3 to 23.5	Bressette (1984)
2.5		37.9	2.9 to 10.9
2		29.3	4.9 to 59.3
2		38.1	3.8 to 22.0
1.5	----	----	1.4 to 2.6	Hall (1990)
0.75	----	----	0.8 to 2.6
2	0.925	40.2	7.7	Humphrey, et al.
2	0.488	52.0	2.1	(1992, 1993)
3	1.114	37.5	15.4
3	0.583	50.1	4.8
1.5	0.833	38.8	6.9
1.5	0.414	50.4	1.5
1.5		0.653	0.58	Ahmed (1993)
1.5	0.693	42.0	7.6	Lawrence, et al.
1.5	0.328	53.6	1.5	(1998)
3	0.857	41.7	16.3
3	0.546	50.1	5.6

    Figure 1 gives the permeability of tire shred samples and tire shred/soil mixtures.

Figure 1. Hydraulic conductivities of tire shred soil mixtures measured by Lawrence, et al. (1998)

Procedures

For tire shreds smaller than 3/4-in, Test Method D 2434 can be used to find permeability.  Tire shreds are usually larger than 3/4-in, and a larger permeameter than is specified by  is necessary.  Constant head permeameters with diameters between 203 mm and 305 mm have been used to measure hydraulic conductivity.

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