Officials to remove 1970s tire reef that became eco-disaster off Fort Lauderdale

[Teamcasa]

Why don't they just cover it with dredge tailings?

Dave

 

[PapaBob]

I am speechless. Did they not think to test the plan before dumping thousands of tires into the ocean?

I have been diving S. Fla since 1975 and initially thought the tires would be a great way of creating an artificial reef if we gave them enough time to anchor coral and sponges. At the time, as I recall, the plan was debated and well thought out. It looked good, but I have since changed my POV. All I can say is that it is hard to find anyone that cares about more or has done more for the S. Fla maine environment than Dr. Ray. He is also pragmatic and not afraid to admit mistakes. I am glad we are going to clean up the mess, but don't want to see this discourage taking some risks to protect the environment if the majority of those risks eventually pay off.

---Bob

 

[DennisS]

That's called beach renourishment down here.

 

[Puffer Fish]

Why don't they just cover it with dredge tailings?

Dave

Torn up roadway? Old trestles? How about just covering the reef with old cars? Or my favorite, old appliances.

This was, at the start, a living reef, and to my knowledge, no one has ever improved the quality of life on a reef by adding tires. That would have been known 20 years ago.

If there is a successful tire reef, it seems to have gotten lost, as I can find no reference to diving on "the great tire reef".

I would more likely suspect that this was a money making scheme, or at least I hope so. If not, there are some individual's swimming in the shallow end of the gene pool.

There are species for fish that would be attracted to them, but they are not the reef varieties.

Having been on it, I would gladly contribute in any way I could to it's removal.

 

[Charlie99]

If there is a successful tire reef, it seems to have gotten lost, as I can find no reference to diving on "the great tire reef".

The tire reef next to the St. Anthony's wreck, Wailea, Maui is doing pretty good. The key is that the tires are partly embedded in concrete.

 

[river_sand_bar]

So... silly questions, was it intended for the the tires to eventually rot away and become nothing? Or infact the tires to be a long standing item that would last for ever and ever like concrete?

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

There's some additional information from older news articles in this thread.

Marc

 

[Teamcasa]

Torn up roadway? Old trestles? How about just covering the reef with old cars? Or my favorite, old appliances.

This was, at the start, a living reef, and to my knowledge, no one has ever improved the quality of life on a reef by adding tires. That would have been known 20 years ago.

If there is a successful tire reef, it seems to have gotten lost, as I can find no reference to diving on "the great tire reef".

I would more likely suspect that this was a money making scheme, or at least I hope so. If not, there are some individual's swimming in the shallow end of the gene pool.

There are species for fish that would be attracted to them, but they are not the reef varieties.

Having been on it, I would gladly contribute in any way I could to it's removal.

My intention is to mitigate the negative effect of the tires – not to make it worse.
I know very well the problem of excess used tires and I would like nothing more than to see them ground up and turned into fuel or added to asphalt for road filler.
What do you think they will do with them once they recover them? They will probably end up in a land fill somewhere only to become someone else’s problem. If they cover them with the material dredged from other areas they solve two problems. I don’t recall suggesting other materials be dumped there.

Dave

 

[Charlie59]

I had heard that the tire reef off Maui was not doing that well due to current conditions there moving the concrete and shredding the tires. It looked okay when I saw it in January, but the St. Anthony was sunk there to ensure an artificial reef when the tires had moved out to sea. See pics at my pics site for examples for Hawaii 07.

 

[rsdancey]

If there is a successful tire reef, it seems to have gotten lost, as I can find no reference to diving on "the great tire reef".

One of the best rec dives in the Puget Sound is at the Langely Tire Reef. This reef was an accident - a breakwater built from old tires failed under the weather conditions and collapsed, spreading several thousand tires in an arc about 100 meters in radius from the current piling breakwater.

The depth is not great; usually between 20 and 30 fsw, but the amount of life is fantastic.

Here's video of a dive on the site:

http://livedigital.com/content/240073/

I don't think the idea of a tire-reef was necessarily bad, but it should have been tested with a small number of tires first to see if the conditions would work in that area before dumping millions into the sea.

Ryan