Reefense: Design Of A Porous Modular Hybrid Reef For Coastal Protection

Abstract

Hybrid artificial reef structures can be designed to promote the development of a self-sustaining habitat for reef organisms while simultaneously enhancing the extent to which they provide coastal protection. Such hybrid structures offer many additional ecosystem benefits over conventional engineering structures that are used to provide coastal protection. Here, we investigate the wave attenuation capacity of engineered oyster reef modules that have been designed through the DARPA initiative Reefense: A Mosaic Oyster Habitat for Coastal Defense. The modules are designed with significant porosity (through misaligned holes), shelves to facilitate oyster recruitment, and an interlocking mechanism to maximise reef stability.