Real scale evaluation of vibration mitigation of sub-ballast layers with added tyre-derived aggregate

•Tyre derived aggregates can be mixed with the subballast layer under railway tracks.•In field tests, added rubber reduces mean acceleration peaks.•Adding TDA yields insertion losses between 0 and 10 Hz and over 50 Hz.•On the other hand, there is a slight increase in the 10–50 Hz bandwidth. This paper represents a final stage in the assessment of granular sub-ballast materials mixed with tyre-derived aggregate (TDA) without binder material. The objective is to evaluate such mixtures through a full-scale test under real traffic conditions. An experimental track with three 30-metre long sections was constructed: one section was built with conventional sub-ballast; and the other two sections were built with mixtures containing increasing rubber content. This track was then monitored using accelerometers. The results show a clear reduction in the acceleration peaks as rubber content increases. Moreover, the excited frequency bandwidth tends to become narrower and shifts to lower frequencies.