Eight years ago, I wrote a blog entry in this space on “Sea
Life Habitats and Masonry Structures.” Two
days ago, a friend pointed out to me that two of the images were no longer
active links, he asked me to edit it. I
found out that if you go to “draft” then your entry is automatically deleted,
and there’s nothing you can do about it. Except to re-write it, so here I am,
re-writing. If anyone asks me to edit a blog entry again, I will not. Lesson learned.
For decades, mankind has known that sunken ships act as
refugees and sanctuaries for underwater life: providing shelter, encouraging biodiversity,
and even creating diving attractions for underwater enthusiasts and serious
divers. Old ships which are no longer
economically viable are regularly sunk to create these sea life habitats,
encourage biodiversity and to create attractions for divers.
This same role is fulfilled with underwater structures that
are purpose built, to act as sanctuaries and to increase biodiversity. There are several advantages to these purposely
designed, built and installed underwater structures, over simply sinking an old
obsolete ship. First, these old ships
tend to be a source of pollution, as they are typically fouled with oil, gas
and other contaminants which eventually leak into the surrounding environment.
Second, concrete can be formulated so as to promote coral growth, as is done by
companies like ECOncrete, whose work has been successfully deployed around the
world.
Underwater concrete structures can fulfill several different
roles to encourage sea life biodiversity and to provide sanctuary for fish and
other life, including coral and all of the variety of underwater life which
fill our seas. For decades, sea life has been threatened by massive industrial
fishing operations, as performed by large multi-national corporations. The impact of this type and scale of
commercial fishing has been devastating on the populations of fish and sea life
targeted by these operations. This
phenomenon was well described in the recent documentary “Seaspiracy” which
describes this conspiracy on the high seas.
Underwater structures located relatively close to the shore
also perform another helpful role: they can dampen waves, attenuating their
impact on the shore. This can create a
significant buffer during severe weather events, like hurricanes and tropical
storms. By locating underwater
structures off shore, the impact of a storm surge can be drastically diminished,
reducing risks for coastal habitants and reducing the damage from these events.
The risks from these storm surges and extreme weather events are increasing
greatly with climate change and the resulting sea level rise.
My company, Spherical Block LLC, has developed specialty
manufactured concrete block which can form arches, domes, flying buttresses and
other unique arched masonry forms.
Recently we obtained two Product Listings from the International Code
Council-Evaluation Services (ICC-ES). Currently we
have an Evaluation Report pending with ICC-ES.
We are teaming up with other leaders
in the construction industry to bring this exciting new technology to the
construction marketplace.
While we have not yet deployed this masonry system
underwater yet, it is easy to imagine that these structures could provide a
safe sanctuary for fish and other sea life, promoting coral growth, and
encouraging biodiversity. Fish could
swim into the open portals made available in our dome and arch structures,
finding safety and shelter from predators.
It could even provide some safety from the industrial fishing operations
which plague our oceans, until we are better able to manage these operations
toward a sustainable model.
These structures could create “hot spots” of underwater life
and increased biodiversity, acting as popular attractions for divers, fishermen
and other sea-based sporting activities. In this role, they could help promote
economic activity for those communities adjacent to them.
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