The Rain Trap System does not interfere with normal golf course construction procedures needing only proper construction management techniques to assist in coordinating the activities of the various entities involved. Cost of construction when the Rain Trap System is utilized does not increase. The cost of tire placement is not passed on to the golf course developer, allowing the water, fertilizer and other additive savings to accrue to the developer/owner, a major consideration in golf course operating costs.
Using a typical fully developed fairway type course, we find that approximately 70% of the initial earthwork is in excavated material with the remaining 30% being in fill (embankment) conditions. The fill portion does not require reworking of that portion of the cover material to be placed over the tires; the earth is handled only one time. Some courses will have a greater or lesser percentage of fill conditions, depending on existing terrain, degree of mounding and the architect's desire to change the natural lay of the land. It is in this fully-developed type course that we can realize the use of approximately 1,230,000 tires for the fully-implemented Rain Trap System.
Other golf courses, of less than fully-developed fairways will use fewer tires in total, but will use similar quantities per ground measure of turf area. These type courses are frequently found in desert locations where much of the course is left in its natural state and only the landing areas, greens and tees are turf. Although the unit cost of using the Rain Trap System increases marginally, there remains no cost to the developer/owner.
We have identified two installation methodologies, either of which can be employed without interference with the normal earth-moving process of building a golf course. The first is to use standard golf course earth-moving equipment and factor its use with the cut and cover necessary to implant the split tires. With this operation, the earth mover would cut an additional 12 inches below the grade specified by the architect, moving the material to a location where tires had been placed. The earth would be smoothed by other equipment assuring that material was dispersed to the interstices below and around the tires. After a pad was leveled, the earth-moving equipment could then operate directly over the tires, lessening the comparative effort by other equipment.
The other method under consideration at this time is the use of a fine grader to excavate for the tires after the course earth-moving is balanced and before the topsoil is replaced for the final grading. This would involve excavating a slot, and covering the just placed tires with the excavated material directly from the fine grader.
Placement of the split tires requires close coordination with whichever earth-moving method is selected for individual application. Using a fork lift truck with triple tine modification will result in production realization of 5,000 tires per day per crew. A typical crew will consist of a fork lift, a pulling unit such as two axle truck-tractor and four members, three placing tires and one operating the fork lift. The pulling unit will be operated by alternating members of the crew.
One fork lift can place 5,000 tires per day with an operator and 3 laborers as support. In addition, a pulling unit will be utilized for transferring trailers preloaded with bundled tires. Production flexibility is possible and the tire placement can be enhanced by the addition of a second fork lift, requiring the fabrication of an additional modified fork set. The ready availability of rental fork lifts throughout the country assures us of this flexibility.
Economies of scale will be less of a factor for smaller applications such as using the tire planting for fewer holes or, perhaps for a 9 hole golf course. The unit price would increase only slightly for such reduced scope.
We would be remiss in neglecting to expand this report beyond the use of the Rain Trap System in golf course application only. This civil engineering technique is readily adaptable to any facility where turf is utilized and where irrigation and fertilization takes place. Wetlands, municipal and private parks, athletic fields, and turf farms would be examples of other uses for this innovative system. For the farmer, the Rain Trap System would be a real money saver for truck farm applications where shallow plowing is the norm. Can you think of still more uses?
Stephen W. Tyler Manager, Engineering & Construction Tire Farms, a California Corporation Information, call 707/573-5304