The Saint Lucia Social Development Fund collaborated with engineers from the Conseil Generale of Martinique to demonstrate how to construct retaining walls using recycled tires.

Engineers from the Conseil Generale of Martinique in collaboration with the Saint Lucia Social Development Fund (SSDF), recently held presentations for tradesmen that demonstrated how to use scrap tires for slope reinforcement.

The construction is relatively simple and does not require skilled workers and heavy machinery.

SSDF Director Joachim Henry applauded the initiative.

"Today the engineers will demonstrate to workers from the community how to attach the tires to construct a retaining wall. The French are interested in our approach and our ability to conduct effective community mobilization. During this week we hope to see the construction of a retaining wall.”

In December 2014, officials from the Conseil Generale visited the SSDF and toured the various sites where tire reinforcements would be useful. They later returned to build a retaining wall. Their most recent visit is to teach others how to build slope reinforcements.

The engineers aim to build two retaining walls using a total of 10,000 scrap tires.

The utilization of scrap tires as reinforcement, especially for slope repairs, is particularly useful to countries like Saint Lucia, where slope failures (landslides) are common and scrap tires are abundant. The use of scrap tires for reinforcement also requires a good understanding of the physical and mechanical properties and durability of the tire. The significant advantage of scrap tire retaining walls are reduced material and construction costs, as both scrap tires and backfill soils are recycled material.

The presentation on the construction of retaining walls using recycled tires were held at the Marigot Primary School on July 29.