4 minute read
SEAHIVE and Concrete 3D Printing
Destin Beach and Wahoo Bay, Florida, United States
Using green engineering to mitigate wave impacts, protect against climate change, and create aquatic habitat. The southeastern United States, and markedly Florida, has been ravaged by frequently occurring catastrophic coastal storms and hurricanes, causing billions of dollars of destruction to the areas in their wake. To protect against future storms and an ever-changing climate, innovative nature-based coastal protection options and solutions are essential. One such option is the use of 3D-printed coastal protection structures. These nature-based structures apply and integrate gray-green infrastructure to mimic natural habitats, mitigate floods, and harness wave energy. In this pilot project, conducted in two locations in North Bay Village, Miami, and Wahoo Bay, Pompano Beach, these gray-green structures, or SEAHIVEs, were deployed to address these municipalities’ critical need for sustainable and resilient coastal protection and to safeguard them from flooding and waves while integrating clean electricity generation. These structures were piloted to incorporate a seawall in Wahoo Bay, a nature-based mangrove and coral reef in Pompano Beach, and a hybrid coral reef offshore of Miami Beach.
Producing Efficiencies
SEAHIVE is a modular shoreline-protection system with hexagonal units that, when stacked together, mimic nature, creating beehive-like structures. Hexagons allow continuous tiling of the units and optimize material by maximizing the space for a given amount of concrete. The beehive pattern offers material efficiency and enhances stability. Concrete 3D printing provides design flexibility with precise and customized construction. It also enables clustering— combining SEAHIVE compositions in a single body—which improves stability while facilitating transport and on-site assembly. Sustainable concrete mixtures combined with noncorrosive reinforcement reduce the carbon footprint while increasing durability and compatibility with the marine environment.
Using Natural Processes
Similar to natural reefs and rocky beaches, SEAHIVE structures protect by dissipating wave energy rather than redirecting it like traditional engineering structures such as seawalls. Perforations on the side faces of the hexagonal units and their compositions form interconnected channels in the resulting beehive-like structures, which trap water within the system and slow it down. The channels also provide habitat and protection for fish, while the overall macroscale design can be tailored to create structures for different applications and site conditions. In the University of Miami pilot ECoREEF, SEAHIVE units are in a pyramidal configuration and are populated with corals, while in Wahoo Bay, the units create a sloping structure that reaches the water surface, where units accommodate sediment and mangroves.
Broadening Benefits
Social benefits derived from the deployments enhance their value by providing recreational and educational opportunities for local communities and visitors. Snorkeling and other water activities allow for the exploration and appreciation of the local ecosystems, fostering a sense of connection to nature and promoting environmental awareness. Furthermore, the integration of green-gray infrastructure and the promotion of natural habitats contribute to ecosystem restoration and preservation. SEAHIVE creates a conducive environment for diverse marine life to flourish, supporting biodiversity and the overall health of the coastal ecosystem while increasing resilience to climate change impacts.
Promoting Collaboration
Concrete 3D printing with novel materials is currently under investigation in the scope of an Army Small Business Innovation Research Phase II grant led by 1Print in collaboration with the University of Miami, Titan Florida, and Carbon Limit. The grant focuses on the design, printing, and deployment of clustered SEAHIVE units and structures using marine-grade concrete and carbon-capture admixtures. The first project using 3D-printed clustered SEAHIVE reef units was deployed in February 2024 in Okaloosa County, Florida. Considering its adaptive features for various coastal and estuarine applications and the potential for habitat creation, the SEAHIVE technology provides a gray-green engineering alternative for coastal solutions codesigned with marine ecologists and local communities.
