Tyres for Spire

Cpl Shane Crouch discusses the progress of road works with Artur, a member of one of Cpl Crouch’s roadwork teams. Photo by Cpl Cameron Jamieson, Army newspaper

From Cpl Cameron Jamieson in East Timor

IT IS only from the air that you get to appreciate the magnitude of the roadwork at Critical Point Charlie.

Much of the work has been completed, but there is still one vital structure to be built, and it is being done with chicken wire, old tyres and a re-born field engineer.

Cpl Shane Crouch is not your average combat storeman.

As a member of RAE he is also a trained field engineer.

Recently, there was a need for an extra engineer to supervise locally engaged people working to build the retaining wall at Critical Point Charlie, located in the hills above Maliana on the road to Suai.

With the stroke of an official pen, Cpl Crouch reverted to his primary trade and the great wall of tyres went from plan to reality.

Cpl Crouch admited the change in work came as a bit of a shock at first, but it had been a great experience.

“The job they’ve given me put me on the back foot at first, it made me sit down and think about what we needed to do,” he said.

“But it’s been good to work with the locals and it’s been a chance to see what I can do.”

The goal of Cpl Crouch’s team is to have the job finished before the wet season begins.

The finished job should then allow the run-off rainwater to stream over the top of the tyres, with the adjacent cement wall taking the main water flow, minimising the risk of landslide and road erosion.

OC Spt Coy UN Security Force Maj David Lavers said Cpl Crouch and his team had been developing the tyre wall concept as they went along, and the result was a product that had plenty of local application.

“The good thing about it is that tyres are readily available in [East] Timor, as are star pickets, wire and chicken mesh,” Maj Lavers said.

“It’s a great technical design, which we are now passing to the public works in [East] Timor, and they are going to use it in a lot of their work in future.”