WHAT THE?
The Arizona Department of Transportation is turning old tires into a smooth freeway for valley drivers.
THE DOWNLOAD
75,000 old tires are about to be poured over I-17. A lot of Phoenicians don’t know rubberized asphalt is used on many freeways in Arizona. Not only does the material provide a smooth ride for drivers, it’s also a great way to recycle. In their most recent paving project, ADOT is using rubber from nearly 75,000 used tires to lay a fresh coat on an 11 mile stretch of I-17 between Dunlap and 19 Avenue in Phoenix.


To make the material, the used tires are turned into granules that look like ground coffee at a plant in Mesa, Ariz. That mix is blended with hot asphalt and aggregate to become rubberized asphalt.