Mutton Cove – Investigation and review of potential Living Shorelines projects
November 6, 2019
A Living Seawall Tiles trial is now underway on the Port River shoreline, joining other trials in Sydney Harbour, Townsville and Singapore.
The tiles are designed using 3d printing technology and they mimic ecological processes.
Look for the ‘Rockpools’, the “Honeycomb’, the ‘Swim Through’ and Crevices’ tiles.
The tiles are fully visible at very low tides and/or check out what marine life is visiting the tiles and settling on them when they’re submerged.
The Port River tiles were installed, by Maritime Constructions, on two aluminum frames (11 tiles on each frame) together with 4 display tiles. They are located by the pontoon in front of the wharf shed (just west of the Lighthouse).
Seawall tiles visible, on wharf via pontoon
Living Seawalls is a Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS) initiative that builds on years of marine green engineering research in collaboration with Reef Design Lab, a Melbourne-based design studio.
While seawalls are the dominant feature of many urbanised coasts, they typically support lower biodiversity relative to the natural habitats they replace. The biodiversity of existing seawalls can be enhanced by increasing their intertidal surface area and the diversity of microhabitats that they support.
Thanks to the Adelaide Mt Lofty NRM Board for the grant that enables the trial in the Port River and to Renewal SA for permission to install the tiles.
SIMS has developed a monitoring protocol to assess the efficacy of the panel installation compared to control seawall sites, as well as answer questions about the performance of different panel designs. We hope to work together with SIMS and Adelaide researchers in monitoring on site.
