The Evolution of Aquatecture: SeaManta, a Floating Coral Reef

Baumeister, Joerg

doi:10.1007/978-981-16-2256-4_8

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…16 At present, there have been limited purpose-built floating artificial reefs, such as artificial reefs as floating sculptures 18 or as part of floating vessels or habitats. 19 However, the authors' opinion is that when combined with modular very large floating structures (VLFS), artificial reef components that are attached to or in-built into these structures will leverage the technical advantages of floating structures, leveraging the ecological benefits that have been observed with novel ecosystems developed around offshore platforms. 20 At the same time, purpose-built modular floating artificial reefs could be specified as part of the technical brief and structure of offshore infrastructure projects, improving the overall environmental sustainability of the built structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunities for further development of 3D-printed floating artificial reefs

Wang¹,

Bao²,

Ward³

2022

JAMB

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This article sets out the potential benefits of combining floating structures with 3D-printed artificial reefs to increase sustainable development of artificial reefs. Traditional artificial reefs are often sited on the seabed (bottom-founded) and are limited to a narrow range of suitable deployment sites. By utilising floating structure technology to create floating artificial reefs, these ecological installations leverage the advantages of floating structures to create more conducive conditions for improved bio-diversity, aquacultural harvests, and coral growth. These advantages include the ability to sensitively deploy floating reefs in the photic zone of deeper waters or where there are soft seabed conditions, speed and flexibility in deployment, creative use of mooring systems to reduce the impact of climatic and navigational threats, and the use of reefs to reduce the impact of coastal erosion and increased urbanisation. This article then considers how floating artificial reefs offer biological and environmental advantages, with the potential to deploy these reefs under environmental offset policies. Importantly, the article considers how 3D-printing technology can produce topographical optimisation of the floating structure, and potentially increase the speed of coral coverage, diversity of fish species and reduced settlement predation. It concludes with identifying future research opportunities to realise the delivery of 3D-printed artificial reefs as part of floating offshore development projects or for environmental offset programs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%