Scrap tyres are being accumulated in large volume, which is disposed into the environment through dumping yards causing damage to the eco-system. As the tyres are manufactured with synthetic rubber that has high carbon content, disposal of the waste has become difficult. It is estimated that approximately more than 70% of the wastes are disposed in improper way in various areas. Unique characteristics of the tyre shreds such as light weight, good insulation, good long term durability and high compressibility properties enable civil engineers to use waste tyres in civil engineering applications. Utilization of these waste tyres in the field of geotechnical engineering is a challenge to improve the characteristics of soil which is one of the essential materials used in construction projects. An experimental program of Standard Proctor tests, Permeability, Unconfined Compression tests and California Bearing Ratio tests were carried out on the specimens of two types of cohesive soil-tyre mixtures, by varying tyre powder content like 4%, 8%, 12% and 16% by weight of the soil. It is observed that after adding different percentages of tyre powder the shear strength of soil increases with reduction in seepage velocity.