Groundwater Property Alteration When Crushed Recycled Shingles Are Used as a Fill Material

This study was performed to show the effects of incorporating different percentages of recycled crushed roof shingles into different soils. Fiberglass-based asphalt shingles are the most common roofing material used for residential roofing in the United States. Over time, roof shingles begin to deteriorate due to weathering and are typically disposed of in landfills. Since shingles take over 400 years to completely break down in a landfill, recycled shingles have been used in a variety of roadway and parking lot paving projects in an effort to remediate this significant material waste. Recently, the geotechnical engineering community has been investigating the potential of using recycled crushed shingles in soil remediation projects. Integrating recycled roof shingles into the soil poses a potential hazard, as permeating water may tend to transport contaminants from the shingle material through the soil. This could potentially lead to plant and wildlife hazards as well as groundwater pollution. In this study, pH, conductivity, turbidity, chloride, hardness, Iron, and Phosphate tests are performed on soil, with different percentages of crushed shingles mixed into the soil, without any contaminants. Results are presented that show the effect of different amounts of recycled crushed shingles on the alteration of groundwater properties.