USED TYRE DROP STRUCTURE
as reasonably possible. The fact that
Used tyres of big trucks with diameter
up to 3.4m have been re-used for
drainage construction material in PT.
Kaltim Prima Coal with satisfactory
performance.
Drop structure in rehab area
Located on the east coats of Borneo –
Indonesia, PT. Kaltim Prima Coal
(KPC) operates open pit coal mine on a
region called Sangatta. It is a giant
operation that produced 27.5 million
tons last year. Here, the annual rainfall
depth reached 3000mm (in 2005),
where rain typically falls as a quick
thunderstorm.
Massive operation of earthworks on
open cut mining system combined with
high precipitation creates an obvious
impact of erosion.
Efforts have been continuously done
by the Company to reduce the erosion
rate occurs. Proper management on
erosion control will eventually
improve the quality of surface water
flows beyond mine boundary.
High erosion rate mainly occurs on
exposed loose dump that newly
constructed prior to being rehabilitated
until the cover crop vegetation well
established. Waste dumps are designed
in lifts to gain dumping capacity as big
the dump typically has steep slope
worsen the risk of erosion. Final shape
of rehabilitated dump has a typical
single slope of 1V:4H.
To control the potential of erosion – as
an integral part with rehabilitation and
surface water quality control – a Dump
Drainage & Rehab (DDR) plan is
developed. This DDR plan describe
how a disturbed area will be
rehabilitated and re-vegetated so that
the area become stable and converted
into final rehabilitation area to comply
statutory requirements and reflect the
best practice in mining business.
To control the destructing effect of
water flowing down the steep slope,
drop structure is constructed. The
energy from flowing water is
dissipated, slowing its velocity thus
reducing its erosive force.
The idea of re-using old tyre for
construction material for drop structure
firstly emerged along with the more
and more abundance of old tyre as a
byproduct from heavy equipment
operation. Even this byproduct requires
cost for waste handling. Back then, the
tyre graveyard space did not cope with
the volume of old tyre to be disposed.
Typical tyre drop structure design
Giant tyres from mining heavy
equipments have generally been
disposed and buried in landfill – or just
being disposed in a nominated
graveyard area. Their size and weight,
being virtually indestructible
engineered compound of rubber and
steel make their disposal or re-use
intricate and expensive. Recycling will
be costly as the KPC site – as well as
general mine sites - located in remote
area, distant away from rubber
industries.
Re-using the tyres for constructing
drainage structures has proven to be
beneficial – both from economic and
environmental point of view.
Monitoring visually suggests that tyre
drop structures is the most durable and
best suited to the characteristic of KPC
post-mined rehab area. This flexible
structure can withstand the vibration
from the blasting which is a daily
activity in mining area. It can also deal
well with settlement issue occur in new
dumping area.
Drop structure, post- construction
To date, estimated more than 3000 old
tires have been re-used for drainage
works sitewide within mining
boundary, mostly for drop structure in
final rehabilitation area. Because the
big size of the tyres, they are mostly
used in area with big catchment so that
the structure will not be over-designed.
Water quality monitoring shows that
there’s no negative impact chemically
to the parameters of water quality.
Re-using the scrap or waste material
indeed involves challenges and
difficulties - compared to other
conventional materials. Though, it is
worth doing when the overall benefit
considered – waste management point
of view inclusive.
In the construction stage, some
challenges involve on the process of
transporting, lifting, handling and
installation detail. Some years of
experience – since 1998 – has refined
the technique to install the tyres easier
and quicker.
The first step is the earthwork for
preparing the open channel where the
drop structure going to be built.
Drop structure, 8 months after construction
Non-woven geofabric lied on the base
of the tyre to prevent fine material
from the channel bed washed away by
water flow. Then tyres can be arranged
to form the drop structure. The tyres
shall be bolted each other to ensure the
integrity of the structures. Without
being bolted to each other, the tyres
structures – which weigh 2 tons
individually – can be ruined by the
water discharged. This did happen
before on a substandard structure, with
the combination of big catchment area
and the high rainfall intensity.
Nowadays, the bolting technique has
been improved. The tyres arranged on
the channel as per final setout can
directly be drilled and bolted in place.
In the old time, the tyres were arranged
temporarily on other spot, the bolt
positions marked, drilled and then
again arranged to its final position on
the channel for being bolted to each
other. Backhoe with suitable webbing
sling used to support placing the tyres
into the correct arrangement.
A spillway under construction
Lifting heavy tyres, placing them into a
relatively precise setout and working
with hand driller machine expose
workers to hazards in the workplace.
Therefore risk assessment or job safety
analysis conducted prior project
commencement ensures that any
known hazards during the whole
activities of construction are
appropriately addressed and controlled.
Special drill bit for portable hand
driller machine has also been improved
so that the work can be done quicker
and more safely.
The void within and between tyres are
filled with rocks and both sides of drop
structures edge backfilled with topsoil.
Contour drains – if any – shall be
reworked to ensure that runoff water
enters the drop structure at the right
position and level. Finally, the cover
crop seed sowed along both edges.
Faster re-vegetation with cover crop
will stabilize and reduce erosion on the
topsoil along the structure banks.
Seeds trapped between rock fill grow,
provides more filtering effect to catch
sediment - though shall be monitored
as to not restrict flow below required
discharge capacity.
Sediment trapped within drop structures
The shape and dimension of the tyres
are fixed and cannot be modified. This
makes the designing of tyre drop
structure setout is more art rather than
technical. This is especially the case
when designing a drop structure with
two or more tyres on the channel base,
having cornering, constricting or
widening section.
Cornering section

Waste re-use is an environmental

concept that should be widely
encouraged for the sake of our planet.
Engineers and designers are challenged
to be more creative maximizing the use
of materials that previously were no
more than just a waste.