Road paving project to mix used tire rubber with asphalt
Trending
BREITUNG TOWNSHIP -- It's a new way for the rubber to meet the road.
The Dickinson County Road Commission is partnering with Michigan Technological University's Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, or EGLE, on a road paving project that will demonstrate the benefits of using recycled tire rubber in hot mixed asphalt in a cold climate.
Recycled tire scraps are potentially paving the way to future roadways, through a $650,000 grant partially funded by EGLE. The research project, which began last week, has paved three sections of County Road 607 using varying combinations of conventional asphalt and recycled rubber tires.
In collaboration with the DCRC, Michigan Tech and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Dickinson Trail Network -- also known as the Dickinson County Bike Path -- worked with state Department of Natural Resources on this project.
An additional $40,000 was needed to add 1 foot of paved shoulder on this almost 2-mile project, creating a 2-foot paved shoulder for bicycling and pedestrians when the project is completed by Bacco Construction.
The Bike Path drew a $30,000 DNR Iron Belle Trail Grant for the additional paved shoulder on this project and the Dickinson Trail Network will contribute another $10,000.
County Road 607/Bass Lake Road is part of Michigan's Iron Belle Trail that goes from Detroit to Ironwood. The 40-mile IBT trail system through Dickinson County is a small part of the 2,000-plus-miles, which will be the longest state trail in the nation.
This part of the route also is used for the Bike Path's annual Tour de Dickinson family fun ride fundraiser in August.
In addition to the above grant, the network also received a MDNR $8,000 IBT grant this year for signs along the entire Iron Belle Trail route through Dickinson County, with DTN with a matching fund.