Tire Derived Aggregate (TDA) Makes Road Usable Again

When a new highway came through Minnesota’s Kroschel Township, more than 40 years ago, its main road 370th Avenue, built in 1908 connecting Finlayson, MN to Highway 65, suddenly became a minimum-maintenance road.

Over time, sections of the road were worked on making it more usable as a trail, for walking and all-terrain vehicle use. Even then, and despite the subsequent regrowth of vegetation, the weak road subgrade continued to cause problems at the surface, making the road barely passable even for off-road equipment.

In January of 2021, after a long permit approval process, Township officials decided to use tire derived aggregate (TDA), a new road subgrade material that created a rubberized corduroy-like underlayment to replace the log corduroy. A corduroy or log road is an early type road built of logs laid side by side transversely and typically used in low or swampy places to allow passage across swampy muddy ground.

Kroschel Township officials liked TDA because of its snowshoe effect over the soft organic soil, reminiscent of corduroy road construction. TDA, when installed correctly, bridges over the weak saturated organic material without differential settlement. “Also,” township official Marvin Rostberg, Kroschel said, “TDA’s water draining properties ensure both a stable, long-lasting subgrade and road surface.”

Another long-term benefit for Kroschel Township’s 370th Avenue, is that TDA is a hydrophobic aggregate, meaning it has very low water absorption and is free draining, and when used on a properly designed road, it will eliminate road damage caused by seasonal frost heaving.

TDA does not hold moisture nor lose its physical and geo-mechanical property when in contact with water, according to TDA Mfg., a Minnesota-based TDA developer and producer.

TDA’s excellent drainage is just one of ten demonstrated engineering, environmental and performance properties that are driving the selection of tire-derived-aggregate as the material of choice in a myriad of civil engineering applications from road and building construction to stormwater management and erosion control. TDA Mfg.’s Monte Niemi said.

For Kroschel Township, the new TDA subgrade has brought 370th Avenue back to life and should allow it to be fully restored to a year-round, easy-to-maintain road in the near future.

© Scrap Tire News, April 2021