Using Waste Tire Crumb Rubber As an Alternative Aggregate for Concrete Pedestrian Blocks

This study investigates the performance of using waste tire crumb rubber as an alternative aggregate for concrete pedestrian blocks. It focuses on determining the engineering properties of the crumb rubber concrete pedestrian blocks, such as unit weight, water absorption, compressive and flexural strengths, as well as freeze-and-thaw resistance. Crumb rubber has been previously used in several applications, such as asphalt pavement, waterproofing systems, membrane liners,… etc. In this study, crumb rubber is used to replace portions of fine aggregates in the manufacturing of concrete pedestrian blocks. Crumb rubber concrete pedestrian blocks were found to possess good aesthetics and a smaller unit weight than plain concrete pedestrian blocks. They were also found to have good resistance to repeated freezing and thawing cycles. However, crumb rubber concrete pedestrian blocks exhibited low compressive and flexural strengths. Unlike plain concrete pedestrian blocks, crumb rubber concrete blocks did not demonstrate the typical brittle failure. They exhibited a ductile, plastic failure and showed the ability to absorb a large amount of plastic energy under compressive and flexural loads