Overview
- Ellsworth Road in Pittsfield Township has become the first local pilot project using rubberized hot mix asphalt that incorporates ground tire rubber, marking a new step in Washtenaw County’s effort to test sustainable, resilient paving practices. By diverting scrap tires from landfills and stockpiles, the project helps reduce fire hazards, groundwater contamination risks, and vermin breeding associated with unmanaged tire dumps.
- More than 7,000 used tires were recycled, processed to remove steel, and ground into rubber granules that were added to the asphalt mix, transforming what would otherwise be waste material into functional infrastructure. This keeps thousands of tires out of disposal streams each year, addressing a portion of the roughly 242 to 280 million scrap tires generated annually in the United States.
- The project was deliberately designed with a comparison segment: one stretch between Platt and the I-94 bridge paved with conventional asphalt, and another stretch between the I-94 bridge and Carpenter Road paved with the rubberized mix, allowing researchers to measure differences in performance over time. While the environmental upside of recycling tires into roads is significant, improper processing could leave residual metals or chemicals in the material, raising concerns about leachate or micro-particle release, though these risks are reduced when tires are fully processed into clean crumb rubber.
- Carrying close to 20,000 vehicles daily and enduring Michigan’s severe freeze-thaw cycles, Ellsworth Road provides an unusually demanding environment for testing. If the rubber-modified asphalt holds up, it could validate the method for other high-stress roads in the region and expand opportunities to recycle large numbers of tires into durable infrastructure. Still, experts will be monitoring not only durability but also environmental impact.
- Although the upfront cost of rubberized asphalt is higher than standard pavement, the project will test whether benefits like longer service life, less rutting and cracking, lower noise, and meaningful environmental reuse can balance or outweigh those costs over time. Project funding has been described in different ways: The Road Commission lists federal and Michigan Transportation Funds, while Pittsfield Township and news outlets cite an EGLE Scrap Tire Grant plus MTF. In either case, the pilot is supported by state transportation dollars with reported EGLE involvement, and researchers will continue tracking both performance and potential environmental impacts linked to the long-term breakdown of rubber in the pavement.
Dr. Zhanping You joined the faculty at Texas A&M University – Kingsville in January 2004 as a tenure track Assistant Professor. He accepted a position at the rank of Assistant Professor in December 2005 in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering at Michigan Technological University. He earned his PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign in 2003. Dr. You served as Director of the Center of Excellence for Transportation Materials for a few years, which is in partnership between Michigan Department of Transportation and Michigan Technological University for a few years. He was entitled Donald and Rose Ann Tomasini Assistant Professor of Transportation Engineering. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2009, to Professor in 2014, and to Distinguished Professor in 2019.
In his capacity as a Professor, he has completed research projects related to road materials. His contribution to pavement and materials research has been featured in newspapers, magazines, and other media. Dr. You has published over 300 papers in peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings. These publications include prestigious journals such as the Journal of the Transportation Research Board published by the National Academy of Sciences, the ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics, ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, Road Materials and Pavement Design, and Construction and Building Materials.
Dr. You has been an effective teacher with his unique teaching philosophy. His teaching interests include transportation materials, pavement design, asphalt materials, and transportation engineering. In 2009, he received the ASCE fellowship of Excellence in Engineering Education (ExCEEd), and he attended the Teaching Workshop at the United States Military Academy at West Point. In 2018, he was named as Outstanding Advisor in Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan Tech. He earned the prestigious Michigan Tech Research Award in 2019.
Dr. You is an active member in the professional community. He has served as an associate editor for the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering since 2008, and for the Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering (English Edition, published by Elsevier) since 2017. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology, Malaysian Construction Research Journal, and the Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering (published by Elsevier). He has been involved in professional services for many professional organizations including: ASCE (Chair of Mechanics of Pavements Committee and Chair of Bituminous Materials Committee), the Transportation Research Board (TRB), Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists (AAPT), International Society of Asphalt Pavements (ISAP), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures (RILEM). Dr. You has reviewed technical papers for over 35 journals and has edited four ASCE special publication books. In 2004 and 2005 he was a recipient of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Faculty Fellowship.
Transcription
David Fair: Governor Gretchen Whitmer has just over a year left in office and is finishing up her second term and cannot run again because of term limit laws. From the first, she has been working, in her words, to "fix the damn roads." I'm David Fair, and welcome to this week's edition of Issues of the Environment on 89.1 WEMU. What if future road projects were more durable and better protected the environment? Well, that's a question being asked through a pilot project along a stretch of Ellsworth Road in Pittsfield Township. It's been paved with a hot mix of asphalt that incorporates ground rubber from scrap tires. The project is headed by the Washtenaw County Road Commission with backing from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. The initiative comes from research out of Michigan Technological University and will continue to be studied moving forward. Our guest today heads up the research. Dr. Zhanping You is a distinguished professor and director of the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute. Dr. You, thank you so much for the time today!
Dr. Zhanping You: Thank you, David! It's my pleasure!
David Fair: Earlier this month, that mix of asphalt was put down on a stretch of Ellsworth Road between Platt and Carpenter Roads. How different does the ground rubber from tires make it from the more traditional asphalt paving?
Dr. Zhanping You: Very good question, David! So, for this special asphalt material that we are using, we included quite some tire rubber coming from waste tires or scrap tires. So, roughly, we use about 10% of the equivalent asphalt liquid we're using into the pavement. So, there are tremendous benefits to using such recycled materials in our new road.
David Fair: Is this a mix that you anticipate will stand up better to the kind of freeze-and-thaw process that seems to destroy Michigan roads so quickly?
Dr. Zhanping You: Absolutely, yes!
David Fair: The stretch of Ellsworth Road that you're studying was chosen because it sees about 20,000 vehicles pass through on a daily basis. That's a lot of wear-and-tear added in to the climate factors that are hard on roadways. Do you have any projection as to whether this ground rubber-mixed asphalt will handle those higher-level traffic volumes?
Dr. Zhanping You: That's an absolutely good question! I believe yes, because, for all the mixed design we tried in-house, we want to verify if the materials we are designing are going to meet the rot resistance and the fatigue resistance, as well as low temperature resistance. So, all of those things actually are all going to pass the other expectations.
David Fair: How does this product compare to concrete paving that has become so prevalent?
Dr. Zhanping You: Of course, asphalt to concrete is a very different product, and the performance are very different. The concrete part that had its own benefit with the asphalt. It's very durable. It lasts a long time. There are also some cones. For example, it's probably not easy to get fixed. And the other thing is probably can make complain the road is very bumpy and noisy. That's usually concrete, of course. And a very good concrete road would not have those things. But any concrete pavements with some distress, cracks and corner breaks and all those things, may have those kinds of noisy features, which are not very pleasant to drive on it.
David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and we're talking with Dr. Zhanping You. Dr. You is Director of the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute and our guest on Issues of the Environment. On that environmental front, in that short stretch of Ellsworth Road, paved with the new mix, roughly 7,000 scrap tires were used. Beyond keeping those tires out of landfills or from being improperly disposed of, what are some of the other environmental benefits of incorporating scrap tires?
Dr. Zhanping You: Well, there are quite some other benefits. One is, like in Michigan alone, we generate over 10 million spare tires a year. That's a pretty big number! Where are those tires going to go? We are trying to save landfill space and trying to avoid those tires be burned at the field. And we're trying to look for really better ways to find a home for those tires. So, rubber asphalt is a really good way. Of course, other than that, that first one is really from the disposal standpoint, and/or another application standpoint, so that's one benefit. The other thing is it would basically prevent any fire hazards because piles of tires potentially can cut fire, which typically run for a long time. The fire can last a week. You're going to leave quite some of toxic smoke or oil. And if you check the news, there are quite some kind of fire happening in the past few years. And the other benefit is really not seeing any potential disease, for example, from mosquitoes or snakes. I came from Texas about 20 years ago to Michigan, so over there, they have rattlesnakes and mosquitoes. So, that's really not a good thing to see. But, of course, other potential issues we can deal with is prevent the potential leaching and pollution. So, if we are using tire rubber in asphalt, so there are a lot of benefits to avoid all those issues.
David Fair: What about sound pollution? Does it reduce the literal volume of traffic for those who happen to live nearby?
Dr. Zhanping You: Oh, that's absolutely one good thought! I did not mention that one. Yes, if we are using tire rubber in asphalt pavements, so according to our testing, we can reduce the traffic noise by a significant amount. So, actually, for most of the research, we found out is the reduction is anywhere between two to four decibel points, which is significant.
David Fair: You've been studying rubberized asphalt for about two decades, as I understand it. So, while this is a first in Washtenaw County, it's not entirely new. Where else have you studied this mix of asphalt and to what result?
Dr. Zhanping You: Well, over the years, we probably studied over 20 or maybe more projects in the state. So, our projects started from Keweenaw County, U.P., and in Dixon County, U.P., of course, a lot more in downstate anywhere: Kent County Road Commissions, Kalamazoo Road Commissions, Muskegon County Road Commissions, and city of Muskegon. We also have work in St. Clair County Road Commission. And if i just the pick a few, so there are quite a couple, also Bay County Road Commission and Saginaw County Road Commission for example. We have quite a bit of those kind of work ongoing. And so, one of the thing that we really find is that, for all the most of the roads we designed and constructed, the rotting resistance is great. And the the big thing we find out is the crack resistance is so good. So, the project we did in Bay County, we find out over three four years of traffic and the harsher winter, we really do not see much crack happening on the road. So, compared with conventional asphalt, there are really big benefits. So, in the conventional pavement, you already see cracks after the first winter. But for this one, right now, it's already three, four winters, we are still not seeing any issues there. So, that's really a really good plus for us!
David Fair: Our Issues of the Environment conversation with Michigan Tech Transportation Institute Director Dr. Zhanping You continues on 89.1 WEMU. Any newer product tends to cost more. So, presuming that is the case here, does the extra expenditure of this kind of asphalt pay off in the long term if widely adopted?
Dr. Zhanping You: Exactly. I think all the years that this small addition cost will definitely offset that. So, definitely, there are tremendous benefits to use this. And that's basically, right now, because all the product we're doing is smaller scale, so you see there are additional costs on it--mobilization and all of those things. But over the years, I think, potentially, the cost will be a minimum or maybe is equivalent to regular asphalt.
David Fair: If the results you are seeing already continue and are positive here in Washtenaw County and the other study locations, how might it change the road infrastructure process and business in Michigan?
Dr. Zhanping You: I think, in the future, because everything looks good, I think you will see potentially a lot of agencies will adopt this approach. So, maybe in their design or in their planning stage, they will consider this as a strategy to maintain the roads. So, I think all the local agencies and even to a state level, there might be a really good opportunity to practice the new design with rubber asphalt.
David Fair: How long will you be studying the paving project that just got underway here in Washtenaw County?
Dr. Zhanping You: This project really only starts about a year or so. We planned last year. We constructed this year. So, we are going to observe that at least for a year when the project really expires. But after that one, we are going to continue to watch it, because, really, there will be minimum effort for us to monitor those road sections. So, we'd love to see it a long time, I'll say seven years or ten years, we won't really see as long as the road is still there.
David Fair: As a matter of curiosity, have you received any backlash from the concrete paving industry that perhaps isn't as excited about the prospect of change?
Dr. Zhanping You: I don't really see anything in that direction, but I think all the technologies are improving. We also see a lot of the technologies happening in concrete areas. We also have advancement in other directions, for example, like a polymer modified asphalt and all those types of things. And so, all of those things are positive directions. I think we are all grouped together, I guess.
David Fair: I thank you so much for the time in the conversation today, Dr. You!
Dr. Zhanping You: My pleasure!
David Fair: That is Dr. Zhanping You. He is distinguished professor and director of the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute and has been our guest on Issues of the Environment. For more information on the pilot project in Pittsfield Township, stop by our website at WEMU.org. Issues of the Environment is produced in partnership with the office of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner, and you hear it every Wednesday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU-FM Ypsilanti. Celebrating 60 years of broadcasting from the campus of Eastern Michigan University!
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