Osborne Reef

The Osborne Reef is an artificial reef off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida (USA). It is about 2 km off the coast in twenty meters deep and covers an area of 26.3 hectares. The reef consists mainly of Dolossen, but is mainly therefore to become famous, because it was expanded in the 1970s with two million old tires.

What started out as totally enthusiastic ideal, aesthetic possibility of disposal waste tire dumps, ended in a fiasco. It settled virtually no marine animals, and the steel tires which are a part of the tire was bundled corroded. Hurricanes flooded torn off tires up to the beaches of North Carolina, which saves natural coral reefs have been destroyed and. There is also the concern that release toxins out of the tires in the sea water and damage the flora and fauna.

In the next few years, the tires should be recovered gradually from the sea. A pilot project in 2001, in the 1600's tires were brought up, came to the conclusion that the associated cost of around $ 16 per tire. The United States Navy will continue the recovery of the tire as an exercise program for their divers in the coming years.