Pretred offers recycled-content vehicle barriers

The Colorado Rubber Barrier product line from Aurora, Colorado-based Pretred Inc. has passed a certification and safety test the company says can help the recycled-content products be accepted for use on any road with speed limits up to 44 miles per hour.

Pretred, uses scrap tires as feedstock for its rubber barriers, says its product was subject to Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) tests conducted by Buffalo, New York-based Calspan Corp.

“Every road operator in every state now has the opportunity to significantly reduce their environmental impact by replacing their carbon-intensive concrete barriers with the safe, sustainable and cost-effective alternative of our Colorado Rubber Barrier,” Pretred CEO Eric Davis says.

Since 2022, the company has been using proprietary processes to turn tons of scrap tires into high-density safety barriers currently being used on construction sites, in parking lots, at airports and at event venues.

Pretred engineers developed the company's new Colorado Rubber Barrier specifically for use on public roadways, naming its product as a form of tribute to the traditional concrete “Jersey barrier.”

“Passing the rigorous process of certification for use on public roadways is a major step forward both for the company and the environment," Davis says.

Pretred says concrete is an "extremely carbon-intensive process.” Citing the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Pretred says each pound of concrete produced releases 0.93 pounds of CO₂.

The company cites an environmental impact assessment conducted by New York-based Boundless Impact Research and Analytics showing Pretred barriers have a greenhouse gas footprint  that is 283 percent lower than conventional concrete barriers.

“Translated, that means 1 mile of [recycled-content rubber] barriers reduces carbon emissions by 2,750 tons,” Pretred says, adding that an 8-foot-long Colorado Rubber Barrier is made using 100 scrap tires and 1 mile of the barriers uses 65,000 end-of-life tires weighing some 750 tons.