CA2169207A1

CA2169207A1 - Artificial reef module & method

Info

Publication number: CA2169207A1
Application number: CA002169207A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Benjamin Joshua Mostkoff
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-02-09
Filing date: 1996-02-09
Publication date: 1997-08-10

Abstract

Improvements in artificial reef modules cast from concrete, with tire chips salvaged from automobile tire optionally added to the mix which is preferably derived from waste concrete mix from ready-mix trucks, the modules being formed in open top molds resembling geometric solid shapes such as a tetrahedron and wherein the sides are desirably roughened to present a wash board corrugated surface, and including suitable recesses for engaging same with lifting apparatus for disposition of same for storage or transit and for release therefrom to descend to an ultimate resting place at the sea bottom in clusters such that marine life is inherently attracted thereto and whereby waste material is recycled in an environmentally enhanced form.

Description

~1632~7 Field of the Invention:
11 The present invention relates to artificial reef 12 modules and artificial reefs formed from such modules.
13 8ummary of the Prior Art:
14 Ready mix concrete trucks dot the highways and byways of the United States and elsewhere throughout the 16 world as they scurry to a job site to discharge a load of 17 premix concrete. The concrete, once it is inside the ready 18 mix truck, has a finite life in terms of hours. If not 19 dispensed within that time period, it begins to harden and otherwise is not useful. If the hardening process persists 21 long enough, a major effort is required to chip the concrete 22 out of the truck's mixer drum. In many instances a truck 23 will go to a job site where the contractor has overestimated 24 the amount of concrete he needs. For example, if he has estimated four cubic yards for a job, and the jok only 26 requires three and one half cubic yards, one half a cubic 27 yard will have to be disposed of since it is highly unlikely ~69~07 -1 the driver would have time to go to another site to sell the

2 waste concrete. Accordingly, there is a huge amount of

3 concrete from ready mix trucks which is wasted and dumped in

4 the United States and elsewhere throughout the world.
Estimates state this amount can be anywhere from five to ten 6 percent of the total amount of ready mix prepared. In 7 addition, as the concrete is setting and is dumped onto the 8 ground, various harsh chemicals can leach out and get into 9 the soil beneath the dumped concrete causing an irritation if not cont~;n~tion and violation of the environment.
11 Automobile tires, as well as truck tires and other 12 industrial vehicular tires, whether on road or off road, pose 13 a significant solid waste disposal problem on a global level.
14 It is estimated that 280,000,000 or one tire per person, is being discarded each and every year in the United States 16 alone. Secondary markets exist for the use of discarded 17 tires and include: the re-treading or re-capping industry, 18 utilization of portions of the tire for alternative purposes 19 such as guard rail components, solid rubber tires (as used by forklifts), secondary fuel in electric power co-generation 21 plants, and pulverization for use as component in paving 22 surfaces such as roads and athletic tracks, to name a few.
23 However, combined these secondary uses utilize less than 50%
24 of the tire waste stream.
As a result of the serious growing concern of the 26 real (mosquito, vermin breeding areas) and potential (fire 21692~7 ~-`
-1 and resulting air and water contA~;nAtion) negative 2 environmental effects of storing or stock-piling tires in 3 large quantities in open air areas, many states in the United 4 States have established guidelines and laws for the storage and disposal of tires. These requirements include that whole 6 tires be stored in covered shelters and that tires stored 7 outdoors must first be reduced to shreds and or chips which 8 can then be disposed of as conventional trash in a landfill 9 environment or utilized in one of the above referenced secondary markets.
~1 The disposal of tire chips in a landfill also poses 12 concern for certain states with limited landfill capacity.
13 In fact certain states are under order by the U.S.
14 Environmental Protection Agency to reduce significantly the use of existing landfills. Permits for the establishment of 16 new landfills are also under much stricter guidelines and 17 more difficult to obtain. Therefore the reduction of the 18 waste stream to landfill locations is highly desirable.
19 Various size concrete blocks for use in artificial reefs or shore protection are exemplified in United States 21 Patent No. 3,456,446 issued July 22, 1966 to Sugiaki Kusatake 22 and Harza United States Patent No. 2,344,302 issued March 14, 23 1944. Various compositions for disposing of spent automobile 24 tires, in whole or chipped form, which are a worldwide disposal problem, are exemplified in Rubenstein United States 216~2~7 --1 Patent No. 3,317,189 issued May 2, 1967 and United States 2 Patent No. 4,080,793 of March 28, 1978 to Paul Sifer.
3 The concept of disposing of spent automobile tires 4 and even chipping them is well known. The concept of clustering disposed of automobile tires by ballasting and 6 strapping them to each other and sinking as a reef is known.
7 However, the well documented problem with this technique is 8 that the strapping eventually succumbs to wave and or current 9 energy and fails, breaking apart and subsequently washing up onto an adjacent shoreline or destroying surrounding natural 11 habitat, thereby creating a greater problem than their use as 12 artificial reef material attempted to solve. In fact, the 13 utilization of tire bundles as artificial reef material is no 14 longer authorized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers general permit for artificial reef construction.
16 Moreover, the concrete forms of artificial reef 17 material have been disclosed in the prior art contained in a 18 "Review of United States Patents Relating to Artificial Reef 19 Technology" by Jeffrey G. Sheldon of Pasadena, California, the same being presented to the Third International 21 Artificial Reef Conference November 3-5, 1983 at Newport 22 Beach, California and published in The Bulletin of Marine 23 Science, Volume 37 of July 1985. This sets forth in great 24 detail efforts that have been made to develop modular units for use in artificial reef construction.

21692~7 - -1 What is needed is a modular artificial reef unit 2 which will lend itself to ease of formation, which can be 3 produced inexpensively, which is easy to transport to a reef 4 site, which can be fabricated out of otherwise wasted materials thereby recycling said materials and which, when 6 deposited on the bottom of a body of water in quantities, 7 will form a complex artificial reef system or enhanced 8 aquatic habitat. Said habitat would have high spatial 9 complexity which provides for a correspondingly high biological diversity for the breeding and growth of marine 11 life. The random and interlocking nature of the modules 12 provide for their use as breakwater or erosion structures.
13 Summary of the Invention:
14 The present invention is directed to the formation of tetrahedron shaped artificial reef modules which are 16 primarily cast from concrete. Optionally, tire chips may be 17 added to the concrete. Modules composed of the tire chip 18 concrete mixture may resemble various geometric solid shapes 19 which meet the criteria for simplified molding and handling.
Said geometric solid shapes include, but are not limited to:
21 pyramids, cubes, cones, prisms, rectangular boxes and 22 hemispheres. Most desirably, the concrete is "waste"
23 concrete obtained from ready mix trucks which have a portion 24 of their load to dispose of at the termination of any given job. When tire chips are employed they, of course, are 26 produced as a result of existing state and federal laws 2l6~2a7 1 requiring tire volume reduction prior to landfill disposal or 2 secondary market use (crumb rubber, or otherwise). The 3 tetrahedron shape is comprised of four equilateral sides, 4 each of which by definition is an equilateral triangle. The tetrahedron shaped module, (formed with concrete only or with 6 tire chip aggregate concrete), may be of any size, but for 7 production purposes, should be in excess of one foot on each 8 edge, and restricted in maximum size only by the limitations 9 of the equipment to be found at the molding and handling facility. The tetrahedron shaped modules are formed in an 11 open topped mold having three equilateral sides. The sides 12 of which may be smooth or roughened to have a washboard or 13 corrugated type configuration, thereby creating undulations 14 in the finished module. Surface irregularities such as this have been demonstrated to further the means by which 16 encrusting aquatic organisms develop on artificial reef 17 materials. Also, as a desirable option, all points and edges 18 can be squared off by truncation as a means of providing 19 additional surface area.
Upon deployment, the tetrahedron shaped unit seeks 21 the path of least resistance through the water column, and 22 orients itself point downward in a nearly vertical descent to 23 the bottom. This allows for a dense, interlocking complex 24 clustering of the units at the deployment site. Unless 25 - lowered to the bottom, conventionally shaped concrete 26 artificial reef materials have a tendency to "scatter" off in 216~207 i--1 different directions in settling to the bottom. This 2 produces an artificial reef of lesser density and biological 3 complexity.
4 A related aspect of the present invention looks to the provision of a lifting point(s) on each such equilateral 6 tetrahedron to permit the same, with relatively crude 7 equipment, to be moved about the production site, onto 8 trucks, onto barges, and off the barge to its ultimate g resting place at the bottom of the selected water body. In connection with the method of forming tetrahedron shaped 11 modules, an open-ended three-sided mold is formed in the 12 shape of a tetrahedron with the open end up. The form is 13 filled with a concrete. Optionally, tire "chips" may be used 14 as an aggregate. The proportions are not necessarily critical to the invention but exemplary of the mix and the 16 result which can be obtained, namely, with an exemplary 17 tetrahedron three feet on each edge, approximately 2.3 tires, 18 (assumption: 1 tire = 20 lbs. or 100 tires = 2000 lbs.) which 19 have been reduced to tire "chips" of approximately 1.5 cubic feet of material, can be mixed with and encased in 21 approximately 1.7 cubic feet of concrete and then permanently 22 dispatched to the bottom of the sea, ocean, bay, lake or any 23 other body of water as artificial reef material. Such a 24 three foot tetrahedron has a volume of approximately 3.2 cubic feet and provides approximately 15.6 feet of surface 26 area. Where dimensions and proportions are referenced, they 2169237 `

1 may differ from those set forth in United States patent 2 application Serial No. 800,857 filed November 26, 1991.
3 Those differences can be attributed to additional studies 4 which have been made in the intervening time period, and as such, the differences are not critical since the substance of 6 the invention is independent of the dimensions as well as 7 weights which are expressed. Moreover, those who will be 8 fabricating artificial reef modules in large quantities will 9 doubtless vary proportions, sizes, ingredients of concrete, and the specifications of the tire chips in accordance with 11 availability and price. Within such limits, however, the 12 desire to develop a reef module which will essentially 13 consume otherwise waste material may be achieved.
14 Furthermore, one must consider that whole tires, chipped tires, incineration ash and other waste materials do 16 not inherently attract marine life. This may be attributable 17 to the exudation of noxious chemicals, or the fact that they 18 are chemically inert, or many other factors. Conversely, 19 concrete is known to provide a substrate or surface which is extremely effective in attracting and supporting a diverse 21 spectrum of marine and fresh water organisms. In addition, 22 concrete serves as an excellent medium for encapsulating tire 23 chips and other waste materials. Therefore, a major 24 objective is achieved by the present invention in developing reef modules of various geometric solid shapes which will 26 inherently attract marine life when clustered with other like .
1 modules, while at the same time encapsulating waste material 2 for which there is perhaps no other environmentally enhancing 3 form of disposal. In this context it will be remembered that 4 the earth's available supply of concrete is very substantial, and that man's ability to pollute the environment with 6 automobile tires is similarly incalculable.
7 The method of the present invention directed to the 8 desirable disposal of cement in ready mix trucks includes the 9 steps of assembling a plurality of geometric solid shaped molds which are constructed with one side or plane being open 11 and facing upward. A biodegradable mold release agent is 12 applied, which may be another waste ingredient of spent 13 cooking oil. Such waste cooking oils are available ~rom most 14 fast food restaurants. The tire chips are staged at a facility conveniently accessible to concrete trucks.
16 Optimally, this location is a concrete facility. A batch 17 plant area, similar to the one found at concrete plants which 18 dispenses sand, cement, rock and other ingredients of 19 concrete, dispenses measured amounts of tire chips and waste concrete. A concrete truck with a load of waste concrete 21 disposes of said load into a hopper container. An adjacent 22 hopper container contains tires chips. An auger type 23 conveyor located at the bottom of each hopper, allows both 24 materials to be precisely dispensed into a common mixer. The mixed blend of concrete and tire chips is then discharged 26 into waiting empty molds. If tire chips are not available, 21692~7 ,`

1 the waste concrete is poured directly into the molds.
2 Provision in the mold of cylindrical rods allows for lifting 3 of the finished units. Alternatively, placing a U-shaped 4 steel reinforcing bar in its inverted position, into the freshly poured cement mixture which is exposed on the open 6 upper face of the mold, provides a lifting point for removal 7 of the artificial reef module, subsequent to the hardening of 8 the concrete. This steel lifting point allows for handling g by crane, forklift, backhoe, front-end loader or other heavy equipment. A common practice of cutting and discarding large 11 quantities of reinforcing steel or rebar provides an ample 12 supply of rebar which is easily bent to form the desired U-13 shaped lifting point. Use of discarded rebar in this fashion 14 likewise serves to recycle this material.
As a consequence, it is a primary object of the 16 present invention to provide a means and method for disposing 17 of waste materials to form biologically productive artificial 18 reefs for enhanced aquatic habitats. A related aspect of the 19 invention is to provide an environmentally enhancing method of recycling large quantities of waste concrete and waste 21 tire chips and lessor quantities of waste steel reinforcing 22 bar and waste vegetable oil.
23 Upon deployment of numerous modules, another ~4 objective of the present invention is achieved by developing underwater clusters of like modules which, when placed in the 26 path of rapidly moving water, will cause an up-welling of 2169~7 _ 1 the current in the water body and its associated nutrients.
2 This alteration of current flow serves to precipitate further 3 marine life, and create zones of reduced current flow or 4 "quiet" areas between like structures. Said areas provide refuge and more available nourishment for various aquatic 6 organisms and fishes.

8 Brief Description of the Drawings:
9 Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description 11 of an illustrative embodiment proceeds, taken in conjunction 12 with the accompanying drawings, in which:
13 FIG. l is a diagrammatic view of a flat deck barge 14 and a hopper barge on the surface of the sea deploying modular tetrahedrons to form a reef on the bottom;
16 FIG. 2 is an isometric view of an exemplary such 17 tetrahedron showing, in partially phantom lines, lifting eyes 18 which can be employed to raise the same;
19 FIG. 3 is a plan view of the bottom of a barge showing how a single layer of the tetrahedron reef units are 21 positioned for transport to the reef sight;
22 FIG. 4 discloses a very simple form of mold to use 23 for forming the tetrahedrons;
24 - FIG. 5 is an exemplary cross-section taken through the exemplary tetrahedron of section 5-5 of FIG. 2;
26 FIG. 6 is a fold out of the faces of FIG. 2;

2169~7 ~--1 FIG. 7 is a typical reef cross-section;
2 FIG. 8 is a perspective view of clusters of 3 tetrahedron shaped molds, preferably a joined cluster of six 4 to be self-standing, diagrammatically disclosing a ready mix truck in position for discharging cement;
6 FIG. 9 is an upper view perspective of the 7 tetrahedron shaped mold in enlarged scale from that shown in 8 FIG. 4 and FIG. 8 illustrating an optional washboard or 9 convoluted surface;
FIG. 10 illustrates in cross section a module in 11 which no tire chips are employed;
12 FIG. 11 is a view of similar cross-section and 13 scale as FIG. 10 illustrating the lifting point U-shaped 14 reinforcing bar in a module which includes tire chips;
FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of a flat deck 16 barge equipped with a crane which is lifting and deploying a 17 tetrahedron unit furnished with the reinforcing steel lifting 18 point, said lifting point being illustrated in FIG. 11;
19 FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 1 and FIG. 12 of a bottom opening or hopper barge deploying tetrahedron shaped 21 units from the surface to form a reef on the bottom;
22 FIGS. 14A, 14B illustrate a pyramid and a 23 hemisphere respectively as two representative optional non-24 nesting geometric solid shapes which meet the criteria for simplified molding of tire chip concrete, said shapes by 26 definition comprising planar faces wherein each face -1 intersects with the adjacent face at an angle which is not 2 perpendicular;
3 FIGS. 15A, 15B illustrate a cube and a rectangular 4 box respectively as two representative optional geometric solid shapes which meet the criteria for simplified molding 6 of tire chip concrete, said shapes by definition comprising 7 planar faces wherein each face intersects with the adjacent 8 face at an angle which is perpendicular.

216~2~7 .
1 Description of Preferred Embodiments:
2 The preferred embodiment of the subject invention 3 tetrahedron 10 is shown in FIG. 2. There it will be seen 4 that equilateral triangular faces 11 make up the four faces of the entire tetrahedron. This is shown in fold-out form in 6 FIG. 6 where, when all the edges are folded, an enclosed 7 tetrahedron geometric solid shape exemplary of the present 8 invention is formed.
9 Particularly as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 11, tire chips 13 are used as the aggregate for the mix which is 11 poured into the mold 12. These tire chips 13 are commonly 12 shredded to a nominal chip size of two inches by two inches, 13 with some being of smaller and some of larger dimension.
14 Such tire chips 13 also have the unique characteristic of containing shredded portions of any steel belting, and other 16 shredded surfaces which protrude from the edges of the chips 17 and provide excellent adhesion with the concrete or other 18 binder used to contain the same.
19 As noted in FIG. 5, and also FIG. 2, provision is made by means of precast cylindrical openings 15 to receive 21 cylindrical prongs of an ice pick-like grip which will permit 22 the same to be on-loaded and off-loaded of a barge 17, such 23 as shown in FIG. 1 by means of the trapeze 18. A simple 24 spreading of the members of the trapeze will remove the cylindrical prongs 16 and the tetrahedrons 10 will drop in 26 the fashion as shown with a vertex ultimately extending ~16g2~7 1 downwardly until the module 10 arrives at the reef site 14, 2 again as illustrated in FIG. 1, FIG. 12 and FIG. 13.
3 Similarly, as shown in FIG. 11, another method which allows 4 for barge on-loading and off-loading is the provision of U-shaped steel reinforcing bar 20 which may be used as a 6 lifting point. Said lifting point 20 also serves to assist 7 in lifting or removing units from their molds 4, 25 as poured 8 as illustrated in FIG. 8. Also shown in FIG. 3 are the 9 orientations of the modules 10 as they appear in the bottom of a hopper barge 17, shown from a different perspective in 11 FIG. 13 or other storage or off-loading facility.
12 In a typical mixture, utilizing the geometric solid 13 form of a tetrahedron module 10 as the chosen mold shape, the 14 following surface area attributes and proportions of concrete mix, (prepared water and cement mixture), and tire chips were 16 observed.
17 Example 1: Tetrahedron Shape 18 SURFACE WEIGHT OF:

1 ft. 1.7 ft.29 lb. 2 lb. 11 lb.
21 2 ft. 6.9 ft.273 lb.14 lb. 86 lb.
22 3 ft. 15.6 ft.2244 lb.47 lb. 291 lb.
23 4 ft. 27.7 ft.2577 lb.111 lb. 688 lb.
24 5 ft. 43.3 ft.21127 lb.217 lb.1344 lb.
6 ft. 62.4 ft.21947 lb.374 lb.2321 lb.

216~20~ .

1 Above calculations are based upon construction of 1 ft. high 2 test units and Volume of tetrahedron expressed as (.11785)L3, 3 where L = unit height cubed.
4 Variations can be made by increasing the percentage of concrete or decreasing it. The current ratio of concrete to 6 tire chips produces a tetrahedron shaped modular unit wherein 7 each tire, (represented as 20 pounds of tire chips), is 8 ballasted by one hundred four (104) pounds of concrete. This 9 ballast ratio equals or exceeds the ratios currently being utilized by the states of Virginia and New Jersey in their 11 construction of tire artificial reefs. Increasing the volume 12 of concrete will produce tetrahedron units with a greater 13 ballast ratio, which are desirable for breakwater or surf 14 zone artificial reef construction.
The greatest cost in the construction of the units 16 is the concrete. However, where waste concrete is utilized, 17 a fee structure evolves for utilization of a facility wherein 18 molds serve as receptacles for waste concrete disposal. The 19 cost savings to the pre-mixed concrete trade to dispose of waste concrete in this manner would be significant.
21 Similarly, municipalities seeking alternatives to the current 22 disposal options of landfill use, burning, or other forms of 23 disposition would also pay a fee for tire chip disposal.
24 This is significant as a useful prcduct, (artificial reef modules), will be fabricated out of waste products, which by 26 definition is the essence of recycling.

21692~7 l As the reefs 14 are developed, particularly as 2 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 7, the preferential approach is to 3 instantaneously deploy or drop at least 100 tons, or 51 4 modules of 6 ft. height, or 89 modules of 5 ft. height, etc., s from a given position of the barge; which barge, is 6 preferably a hopper or bottom opening barge 21, as 7 illustrated in FIG. 13. When a large "mound" on the bottom 8 is the desired result, the placement operation may take place 9 repeatedly at the same location for many years, and cover areas as large as the entire permitted artificial reef site 11 or over concentrated areas as small as 100 square feet within 12 the boundaries of the reef site. Where a reef is being 13 built, however, a "on the bottom" stacking height of at least 14 three modules is highly desirable to form a complex artificial reef system with high spatial complexity which 16 provides a correspondingly high biological diversity for the 17 breeding and growth of marine life. As a result, any reef 18 with less than three modules in depth will lose the 19 synergistic value of combining several of the tetrahedrons.
Conversely, the modules can be dumped to virtually any depth 21 accommodated by the sea and not a hazard to navigation. In 22 this fashion, a municipality with thousands and thousands of 23 tires requiring disposition every year can be accommodated 24 without resort to unsightly landfill construction, burning, or other disposal techniques. A simple and cost effective 26 means to achieve this goal of recycling tires and waste 21692~7 1 concrete is realized by establishing a facility similar to 2 the one illustrated in FIG. 8 wherein ready mix cement trucks 3 serve to blend measured amounts of concrete and tire chips 4 and jettison the resultant mixture into an awaiting mold cluster 25 or into molds of other various geometric solid 6 shapes.
7 The Method 8 The method of forming an artificial reef combines 9 the steps of chipping spent automobile, truck, bicycle, or even airplane tires or like disposable products which are not 11 biodegradable into chunks which can be embedded in an 12 essentially concrete or equivalent material in a variety of 13 geometric solid shapes, such as a tetrahedron, pyramid, cone, 14 cube, rectangular cube and hemisphere. Other geometric solid shapes may be utilized as desired, however, shapes other than 16 the tetrahedron, pyramid and hemisphere (to name a few), 17 have a tendency to "nest" or lie "flat" against each other 18 and are "non-nesting" even when dropped in a random fashion, 19 thereby lessening the likelihood that there will be habitat enhancing spaces established between each and every one of 21 the modules deployed to the hottom of any particular water 22 body. Thereafter, the method further contemplates forming 23 modules utilizing various geometric solid shapes FIGS. 14A, 24 14B, 15A and 15B and deploying them in a random fashion within the boundaries of a permitted artificial reef site and 26 covering the bottom to a desired stacking height of at least - 2169~7 ~-._ 1 three such units. In addition, the method contemplates 2 forming modules such as the tetrahedron out of a mix of 3 concrete and tire chips in which the weight of the tire chips 4 is approximately half of the weight of tire chips required to fill the module when no other ingredients are placed in it.
6 It has been discovered that when the tetrahedron 7 shaped modules, constructed in accordance with application 8 Serial No. 948,159 above, were placed in Atlantic Ocean 9 waters adjacent to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, that marine life was more readily attracted to the one plane or side of the 11 tetrahedron which faced upward and which (plane or side), was 12 formed at the time the mold received the poured concrete and 13 tire chip mixture. This one side out of a possible four, 14 acquires a roughened texture as compared to the other three sides of the tetrahedron which resemble the relatively smooth 16 interior walls of the mold. It has been demonstrated through 17 scientific research that rough surface textures provide a 18 superior substrate for encrusting marine organisms.
19 Observation of marine life on the tetrahedron artificial reef units deployed off of the east coast of Florida, has resulted 21 in the preliminary conclusion that the marine life are 22 attracted by the roughened surface which is unique to the 23 protruding portions of tire chips. By comparison, similar 24 units formed utilizing standard concrete only and deployed at the same time as the tire chip concrete units, have not yet 26 developed as diverse a biological community of encrusting 2~69~7 -`

1 marine organisms as have the modules containing the tire 2 chips and concrete mixture.
3 In addition, while the holes which are molded for 4 lifting the module via two tubular like members are desirable, for the purpose of expediency a reversely bent 6 reinforcing bar buried at least six to twelve inches deep in 7 the module will serve as the primary attachment point for 8 lifting, moving and deploying the module.
g Second Embodiment Consistent with the roughened edge, a new discovery 11 lies in the utilization of a corrugated type interior 26 for 12 the three faces of the tetrahedron mold which form the 13 sidewalls of the mold. The grooves are aligned in 14 essentially parallel relationship to the end that the module 10 can be removed from the mold 12 without stripping the mold 16 sides 26. In those instances where additional surface areas 17 required such as a plurality of small protrusions such as 18 cones, the mold sides are pivoted each to the other so they 19 can be opened to remove the mold.
With one hundred of the tire chip modules, and one 21 hundred of the modules without tire chips having been 22 observed on the bottom for at least six months, it has become 23 apparent that the foregoing phenomena do occur. Indeed, all 24 of the modules whether they carry the tire chips or not are attracting marine growth from a seemingly unproductive 26 environment on the water bottom.

~169207 i, -1 A further advantage has been achieved by the 2 utilization of tire chips since the volume which is displaced 3 by the tire chips has a weight less than half of that of the 4 adjacent concrete. Accordingly, the modules with the tire chips are lighter. This lighter weight permits the 6 tetrahedron shaped modules to float more on a muddy, silty or 7 soft bottom portion of the water involved, and therefore 8 expose more of its exterior which, in turn, attracts a g greater amount of marine life for a single given module. On the other hand, in applications such as ready mix plant, 11 where every day they have waste cement which comes back in 12 trucks which could not make their delivery because of rain, 13 or for any other reason, dropping the concrete quickly into 14 the molds is a good way of salvaging the spent concrete.
Indeed, chunks of that which is scraped out of the interior 16 portion of the ready mix trucks and elsewhere can be admixed 17 with the concrete and while not achieving the light weight of 18 the tire chips as an aggregate, an efficient way is provided 19 to dispose of all of the waste in a concrete plant.
The Modified Method:
21 The present method can be practiced in several 22 forms. One convenient manner is to join the three-sided 23 molds 12 into a honey comb six pack 25 or hexagon 24 relationship to the end that any spillage from one mold falls into the other, and there is virtually no waste from a 26 standpoint of pour`ng the concrete into the mold. As shown 21692~7 ~--1 in the drawings, the mold 12 is comprised of three 2 independent faces 30 each of which is secured, desirably by 3 welding, to the other face 30 at its lateral edge.
4 Contemplated is the use of an elongate longitudinal hinge (not shown) at two of the adjacent edges, with the third edge 6 having a pin and latch mechanism such as an enlarged hinge in 7 which the hinge knuckles of one edge overlap and are 8 interspersed between the hinge latch of the adjacent member.
9 Thereafter a hinge pin is dropped into the one section to secure the three together for purposes of molding. Mold 11 release agents such as vegetable oil commonly used in salad 12 dressing or waste cooking oils, when applied in a thin 13 coating, assists materially in removing the module from the 14 mold or alternatively, stripping the mold from the module.
In addition means such as a simple tire valve are provided at 16 the very bottom of the unit and optionally on the sides to 17 the end that compressed air can be used to assist in mold 18 release and in its simplest form, hitting the side of the 19 mold with a rubber hammer or other object will materially assist in stripping the module from the mold.
21 The invention, when using waste concrete, is 22 independent of the use of tire chips or interdependent when 23 used with tire chips. The same is true when a smooth 24 interior surface mold or roughened or irregular surface mold is utilized.

21692~7 1 Although particular embodiments of the invention 2 have been shown and described in full here, there is no such 3 limitation of embodiments. On the contrary, the intention is 4 to cover all modifications, alternatives, embodiments, usages and equivalents as fall within the spirit and scope of the 6 present invention, specification and appended claims.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An artificial reef module for positioning on the bottom of a body of water comprising, in combination, - said module having a solid filled body with a plurality of substantially solid imperforate planar faces, - said body and its faces comprising a non-nesting module which, in combination with other like modules, will not nest when on the bottom of the body of water, - said body being formed of concrete.

2. The artificial reef module of claim 1, in which - said concrete body has a plurality of tire chips contained therein.

3. The module of Claim 1, in which - said solid body is formed from waste concrete which otherwise would have to be dumped or salvaged since it was unfit for use based upon the time spent in a carrier vehicle.

4. In the artificial reef module of claim 1 above, - in which a U-shaped hook has been imbedded in an upper surface thereof to serve for lifting the same from a mold.

5. An artificial reef module mold for forming a plurality of artificial reef modules, comprising, - at least four individual artificial reef modules (of said) molds joined at the upper portion thereof, - said individual artificial reef module molds being clustered in a free-standing configuration, whereby the subject molds can be filled at a concrete disposal site.

6. An artificial reef module mold, said mold comprising in combination, - a plurality of triangular faces, each of which is equilateral, one of which opens upwardly.

7. In the artificial reef mold of claim 6 above, - a plurality of grooves oriented vertically to form a plurality of ridges and grooves on an artificial module molded therein.

8. A method for forming an artificial reef module out of waste materials, including concrete not utilized and returned from a job site by a concrete carrier vehicle, and tire chips, comprising the steps of:
- forming at least one mold, having a plurality of outstanding triangular walls, - admixing at least 25% by volume of the interior portion of said mold with tire chips and spent concrete, - and pouring said admixture into the concrete mold, whereby when the concrete mixture sets, the artificial reef module may be removed.

9. In the module produced by the method of claim 8 above, - said waste material comprising tire chips from rubber-like tires.

10. An artificial reef module for positioning on the bottom of a body of water comprising, in combination, - a solid filled body comprising a waste salvaged concrete material, - said module having a plurality of substantially imperforate planar faces, - said module and said faces being equilateral and forming an equilateral tetrahedron, whereby an artificial reef module is prepared which will have sufficient weight to stay on the bottom of said body of water while forming an artificial reef.

11. An artificial reef module for positioning on the bottom of a body of water comprising, in combination, - a body comprising a mixture of waste concrete-like material and disposable, spent, relatively non-biodegradable pieces of resilient material by embedding said resilient material into a concrete encased module, - said module having a plurality of substantially solid planar faces, - said planar faces being arranged to form a body having a non-nesting relationship with a like body, whereby an artificial reef module is prepared which will have sufficient weight to stay on the bottom of said body of water while forming an artificial reef.

12. An artificial reef module for positioning on the bottom of a body of water comprising, in combination, - a solid body comprising a mixture of waste concrete-like material and disposable, spent, relatively non-biodegradable pieces of resilient material by embedding said pieces of resilient material into a concrete encased module, - said module having a plurality of substantially solid imperforate planar faces, each face intersecting with the adjacent face at an angle which is not perpendicular, whereby an artificial reef module is prepared which will have sufficient weight to stay on the bottom of said body of water while forming an artificial reef.

13. The module of claim 12 above, said pieces of resilient material comprising tire chips.

14. An artificial reef module for positioning on the bottom of a body of water comprising, in combination, - a solid body comprising a mixture of waste concrete-like material and disposable, spent, relatively non-biodegradable pieces of resilient material by embedding said resilient material into a concrete encased module, - said module having a plurality of substantially solid imperforate planar faces, each face intersecting with the adjacent face at an angle which is perpendicular, whereby an artificial reef module is prepared which will have sufficient weight to stay on the bottom of said body of water while forming an artificial reef.

15. In the module of claim 14 above, said pieces of resilient material comprising tire chips.

16. An equilateral tetrahedron artificial reef module formed from ready mix waste concrete which has been placed in a tetrahedron mold prior to taking a set.