Examining the use of scrap tires as an envelope material in subsurface drainage systems

Drainage is defined as the removal of excess water from soil surface or root zone by various engineering methods in order to create a well aerated plant root zone. In subsurface drainage, organic and non-organic envelope materials are used to make the flow of water to the drains easy and to prevent siltation in the drains. Vehicle tires that have fulfilled their life are an important source of rubber material that must be evaluated. Scrap tires which are reduced to different sizes by various methods are used in different disciplines. However, no finding has been found about the use of this material as an envelope material in drainage. In this study, 10 and 20 cm thick granule materials of different sizes obtained from scrap tires were tested in laboratory conditions, under different water heads, using a constant head permeameter and the results are compared with a 10 cm thick sand-gravel envelope material whether they could be used as an envelope material in subsurface drainage. As a result of the study, it has been determined that the 20 cm thick granule material obtained from the scrap tires can be used instead of the sand-gravel envelope material with a thickness of 10 cm in terms of flow rate and sediment accumulation. Thus, approximately 30 million scrap tires that are released every year in our country will be used as envelope materials to prevent silt accumulation in the drains, avoiding environmental damages in the places where they are stored or piled up, and will be destroyed without causing environmental problems.