Artificial Reef Building

[sololady]

You aren't kidding!

 

[Heffey]

The artificial reef part is a great idea, but I’m not sure if I want to be diving where the newly arriving divers 60 feet above me are going to be doing their giant strides carrying bricks.

 

[DeepBlueResort]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Could be fun

 

[Babydamulag]

I presume the staghorn you are carefully cultivating has survived the nasty Caribbean disease? It would suck to get all that coral ready to go, and then have it up and die on you in a month when a rogue water mass carrying the disease vector passes through. Heck, even an unusually warm water mass could trash that stuff in a jiffy. If that happened to me after all that work, I would be very ticked off.

Regarding the idea of individual divers planting their own "reef block", it's better than nothing, but there are more effective options. Rubble piles are not very effective artificial reefs, and look pretty ugly. In order for it to "work", some sort of LEGO frame would have to be set up that divers could contribute to on a piece-by-piece basis. I have never heard of such a setup, but it isn't excessively farfetched. It would require a lot of planning and coordination, as well as cooperation with an existing artifical reef manufacturer.

The LEGO framework was exactly what I had in mind. I have been toying around with several ideas for LEGO-looking blocks. I am working on a plate design and block design that are connected to an already in place block structure (similiar to a mooring block) on the bottom. This way an adult diver could take it to the reef , install it, and enjoy a dive all at the same time. This is a work in progress.....ideas?

 

[archman]

You would want to avoid any metals in the blocks, or anything that will structurally degrade within at least a century. I would go with a 100% concrete/rock/sand mix. A high pecentage of pea gravel or crushed rock in the mix will reduce costs and nicely texturize the outer surfaces for biological attachment. I have a good mixture formula in my data files somewhere... dang where are they...

The weight will make it heavy for a recreational diver, which will limit the size of each block. I would not use a block design weighing more than 10 lbs.

As for design...
Conceivably something with a big slot on one side and a slightly smaller opposing pin on the other side, or sides. What you want to create is an effective boulder-shaped mass that can weather the worst storms, rise up high enough to avoid silt burial, and possess nooks and crannies for colonization and shelter. A good first-start would be to try for a structure the size of a refrigerator. I would not build anything smaller.

You may be able to google up some artificial reef websites and see what they're up to. It's a growing field now, with experienced professionals.

If you're going to work with concrete, know that it's a pain in the butt to make the stuff without a proper mixer. Become best buds with a local contractor so you can borrow their equipment.

 

[CBulla]

They use hollow tetrahedron shapes around here for artificial reefs. I've seen them in all sizes (12" to 5') and they always have life around and on them

 

[Babydamulag]

I am thinking of a prepositioned stack of bricks. Our DM's can place them before the customer does the dive. The customer selects the correct shaped building block and then places it on the structure....kinda like a "cornerstone" ceremony for the customer. Something along those lines.

 

[archman]

I am thinking of a prepositioned stack of bricks. Our DM's can place them before the customer does the dive. The customer selects the correct shaped building block and then places it on the structure....kinda like a "cornerstone" ceremony for the customer. Something along those lines.

If it's this simple, the structure should be either/both:
1. externally shaped with prominent lateral projections (like a star or tic-tac-toe shape)
2. not be completely solid (ie. leave large gaps in the structure)

The bricks will still need to deeply interlock within one another, otherwise they will easily turn into a rubble pile.

Large cinderblocks can provide the base structure. Orient them for maximum weight-bearing load. If the blocks are the type with big holes, orient the blocks so the holes are vertical and not horizontal.

Select bricks with the very roughest surfaces. Smooth surfaces retard colonization.

Make sure your deployment site is not deep sand. Select a hard bottom habitat, with no more than a few centimeters of overlying sand. If you see a lot of gorgonians on a sandy-looking seafloor, there's hard bottom there.

 

[Babydamulag]

The ideas are coming now....wooHoo....now I am really thinking of a way to do this. Keep the ideas coming.

 

[Babydamulag]

This thread is very timeley. Our reefs in the PI are under seige!! Go to:
http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=56445