Saving Lives With Worn Tyres

While rubber is frequently used as a reinforcing material in buildings designed to withstand earthquake damage, the rubber used for such purposes is generally virgin rubber – an increasingly expensive commodity. However two Turkish students have built a working model of an earthquake resistant wall using old truck tyres, and the results of their tests are attracting interest from experts in this area of construction design and those looking at practical and environmentally friendly tyre recycling solutions.

Mehmet Gezici and Alper Kurt, both students at Aydın Özel Yesevi College have been working on earthquake related issues since the beginning of the 2006-2007 academic year, and their recent efforts have been concentrated upon building a wall which offered the flexibility needed for earthquake resistance. They found that worn out truck tyres could be incorporated into the construction of new buildings to make a more flexible structure, and the outer walls of existing buildings can also be given extra reinforcement through their use.