According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over 290 million tires are scrapped annually. About 130 million of these tires are recycled for fuel. Most of the balance of these scrapped tires is chopped up into rubber strips or into beads called crumb rubber. The beads are recycled into street repair materials. The rubber strips are reprocessed into new products such as footwear and door mats.
Door mats made from recycled tires also make great anti-fatigue mats in front of places where you may stand for long lengths of time - like your tool bench or laundry folding table. They come in a variety of sizes and shapes. The larger sizes are heavy to move around, but you can build yourself some handles by folding the mat in half and attaching two c-clamps to use as handles.
Bridge decks, tire mats, and pole rails can be used for temporary wetland crossings. Bridge decks are simply the decking of a timber bridge (e.g., prefabricated stress-laminated, glued-laminated, nail-laminated, or dowel-laminated panels). Tire mats may be purchased commercially or built by interconnecting tire sidewalls with corrosion-resistant fasteners. Some tire mat designs use double layers of sidewalls, while others use a layer of treads topped by sidewalls. Pole rails are made from straight hardwood trees laid in the direction of travel below each wheel.
Bridge decks are suitable for most wetland soils. Tire mats are suitable for wet mineral soils. Either option can be used to cross wet areas on a haul road. Because skidding will move mats, these options are best limited to hauling and forwarding. Use pole rails on small, mineral-soil wetlands under skidders with wide, high-flotation, or dual tires. All options require relatively flat topography (less than 4 percent grade).
