Eco Xblocs provide good marine habitat
Specially designed Xblocs were found to encourage the presence of marine life.
The results of the final year of monitoring of the ‘Rich Dike’ project at IJmuiden in the Netherlands have been published and seem to show that the specially designed Xblocs used at the port encourage marine life.
In 2008, 10 ‘Eco Xblocs’ were placed at IJmuiden, on the southern breakwater of the port entrance to Amsterdam. The Eco Xblocs have a specially roughened surface to enhance marine growth. Over the past three years the Eco Xblocs have been monitored and the marine life on them studied and quantified.
One of the main conclusions of the final monitoring report is that the Eco Xblocs provide a more varied habitat than conventional armour units (shaped like cubes). This is due to the larger variation in the orientation of the various surfaces of the Xblocs.
The Rich Dike project at IJmuiden was initiated by Deltares and the Rijkswaterstaat, with monitoring by Ecoconsult. DMC prepared design guidelines for concept designs for the armoured units. The objective of the guidelines was to share DMC’s experience with the design of breakwaters, shore protection systems and physical model testing.
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