ASTM D6270-17 - 15.12.2017
 
Significance and Use

4.1 This practice is intended for use of scrap tires including: tire derived aggregate (TDA) comprised of pieces of scrap tires, TDA/soil mixtures, tire sidewalls, and whole scrap tires in civil engineering applications. This includes use of TDA and TDA/soil mixtures as lightweight embankment fill, lightweight retaining wall backfill, drainage layers for roads, landfills, and other applications, thermal insulation to limit frost penetration beneath roads, insulating backfill to limit heat loss from buildings, vibration damping layers for rail lines, and replacement for soil or rock in other fill applications. Use of whole scrap tires and tire sidewalls includes construction of retaining walls, drainage culverts, road-base reinforcement, and erosion protection, as well as use as fill when whole tires have been compressed into bales. It is the responsibility of the design engineer to determine the appropriateness of using scrap tires in a particular application and to select applicable tests and specifications to facilitate construction and environmental protection. This practice is intended to encourage wider utilization of scrap tires in civil engineering applications.

4.2 Three TDA fills with thicknesses in excess of 7 m have experienced a serious heating reaction. However, more than 100 fills with a thickness less than 3 m have been constructed with no evidence of a deleterious heating reaction (1).7 Guidelines have been developed to minimize internal heating of TDA fills (2) as discussed in 6.11. The guidelines are applicable to fills less than 3 m thick. Thus, this practice should be applied only to TDA fills less than 3 m thick.

 
1. Scope

1.1 This practice provides guidance for testing the physical properties, design considerations, construction practices, and leachate generation potential of processed or whole scrap tires in lieu of conventional civil engineering materials, such as stone, gravel, soil, sand, lightweight aggregate, or other fill materials.

1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. No other units of measurement are included in this standard.

1.3 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

 
2. Referenced Documents

C127-25

Standard Test Method for Relative Density (Specific Gravity) and Absorption of Coarse Aggregate

C136-06

Standard Test Method for Sieve Analysis of Fine and Coarse Aggregates

D3080-04

Standard Test Method for Direct Shear Test of Soils Under Consolidated Drained Conditions

D2434-26

Standard Test Methods for Laboratory Measurement of Hydraulic Conductivity of Coarse-Grained Soils

Method 1311

Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste: Physical/Chemical Methods, 3rd ed., Report No. EPA 530/SW-846, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC.

D698-12(2021)

Standard Test Methods for Laboratory Compaction Characteristics of Soil Using Standard Effort (12,400 ft-lbf/ft3 (600 kN-m/m3))

D2974-25e1

Standard Test Methods for Determining the Water (Moisture) Content, Ash Content, and Organic Material of Peat and Other Organic Soils (Includes all amendments and changes 12/9/2025).

D4253-16

Standard Test Methods for Maximum Index Density and Unit Weight of Soils Using a Vibratory Table

M 288

Standard Specification for Geotextiles Standard Specifications for Transportation Materials and Methods of Sampling and Testing, Part I: Specifications, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, DC.

D1557-12(2021)

Standard Test Methods for Laboratory Compaction Characteristics of Soil Using Modified Effort (56,000 ft-lbf/ft3 (2,700 kN-m/m3))