Concrete road barriers made from recycled tyres receives innovation award

A collaborative recycling project turning waste tyres into concrete road barriers has been awarded for innovation excellence.

Professor Tuan Ngo leads the team from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, which won the Concrete Institute of Australia’s Victorian Branch Award for Excellence in Concrete 2023 in the ‘Technology and Innovation’ category.

The team’s project sought to address the significant environmental problem of waste tyres in Australia. According to the Victorian Waste Management Association, Australia generates over 56 million tyres each year, with 60 per cent of end-of-life tyres being disposed of improperly in landfills or through illegal dumping.

The team’s project, ‘Next generation of road barriers to increase public safety and decrease waste’ involved the creation of a sustainable rubberised concrete mixture design for road barriers. It involved collaboration with Tyre Stewardship Australia and Saferoads.

The road barrier mixture has a higher impact resistance compared to traditional concrete, and has significant benefits over existing road barriers including reduced severity of driver injuries and deaths on impact, longer life cycles for manufacturers of concrete barriers, and a lower carbon footprint.

The world's first full-scale rubberised concrete barrier crash test was conducted on the material in September 2022, where 16 rubberised concrete road barriers were tested against a vehicle crashing at a speed of 100 km/hr. The test was a success, leading to the approval process for building and using the new rubberised concrete barriers in Australia.

The Victiorian branch award was presented at a ceremony in July, recognising outstanding contributions in construction, concrete design and materials. The team are now eligible for the Concrete Institute of Australia’s national award, to be announced on 12 September.