April 24, 2007
by Rob Olmstead
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Cook County will soon be one place where the rubber meets the road - literally.
Within a month or two, the county highway department will lay down a new road surface in the Northwest suburbs that is made, in part, of old ground-up rubber tires - keeping them out of garbage dumps and saving precious landfill space.
Approved by the county board last week, the pilot project was announced Monday by President Todd Stroger and Commissioner Mike Quigley. The county will test the new material in two locations, one of them being Bateman Road near Barrington Hills.
"If we see some fairly good results, we may start using it more," said Rupert Graham, acting superintendent of the Cook County Highway Department.
Rubber-tire roads are nothing new. The general concept has been around since the 1960s. But the first experiments with rubber tire in roads found the material to be more expensive and not as durable as regular asphalt - up to 30 percent more expensive, a prepared statement by the county said.
But with new technology has come more cost-efficient mixtures and better performance. Graham said the new material is only 3 to 4 percent more expensive than traditional asphalt.
It could even turn out to be a more cost-effective method of paving roads if the material holds up longer than traditional asphalt, Graham said. Engineers believe that rubber roads may resist cracking better than asphalt, thereby lasting longer.
Also, if the county ever decides to start paving with the material on a widespread basis, the mass-production techniques could bring the cost down to the same as asphalt.
For comparison's sake, the county will also put in a stretch of road built from traditional asphalt. The experimental material will be installed on Bateman from Penny to Algonquin Roads. The traditional asphalt will be installed on Bateman from Algonquin to Lake-Cook Road.
Another testing spot will be in the south suburbs in the area of 175th Street and Central Avenue.
Graham said he anticipates the paving will start in one to two months.
