ATLANTA (Feb. 19, 2013) — Rubberized asphalt will soon get its day in the sun in the Peach State.
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and Georgia state Rep. Randy Nix, R-La Grange, will hold a joint news conference Feb. 20 at GDOT headquarters to celebrate the result of efforts to include crumb-rubber-modified asphalt in state road construction.
"Tires are a problematic waste material in Georgia, and we're always looking for ways to improve our highways with new technologies and advanced formulations," Rep. Nix said in a press release announcing the event.
The lawmaker began work on finding solutions to Georgia's scrap tire problem in April 2011, according to the press release. After discussing the issue with Liberty Tire Recycling Inc. executives in Atlanta, Rep. Nix worked with the GDOT to amend the agency's road specifications to allow the use of rubberized asphalt.
GDOT now approves rubberized asphalt in road projects on a case-by-case basis.
Liberty Tire Recycling, the nation's largest rubber recycling firm, said that if Georgia used rubberized asphalt on only 10 percent of its road paving projects, that would use up all the scrap tires generated in Georgia each year.