The design could restore the ecosystem
The design of artificial reef modules designed for fish breeding and increasing biodiversity in coastal waters was created by specialists from the Hydroproject Design Institute. The design patented by them the other day could contribute to the restoration of the severely damaged ecosystem of the Sea of Azov.
Artificial reef modules have been known for more than a year, some are used for breeding fish, others — to dampen waves, third — for the first and second. The construction closest to the invention of the Russians — it's a rifball. It is a hemisphere made of concrete with holes on the sides, most of all resembling a ceramic house for aquarium fish. On the one hand, reefballs serve as houses, but only for larger inhabitants of the seas, they can hide in them, have offspring. On the other hand, they, installed near the coast, dampen the waves. But precisely because they stand in the way of the waves, over time they are filled with sand, so they cease to perform their first function. And one more drawback — difficulties with installation: after all, put a huge bowl on the seabed with a bulge up — the task is not easy.
The Russians have chosen a different path. Their invention — also a concrete bowl, but placed on the «bottom». More precisely, on the hole made instead of him. It serves to connect the substrate, which will be in the bowl, with the bottom soil and its inhabitants. The bowl can be filled with soil similar to the bottom, and planted on it are characteristic of that part of the sea where it is installed, plants. Small fish and other inhabitants of the sea can live and hide in them. A separate structural element — this is a kind of network with very large cells with landmarks fixed on it, imitating underwater plants. At the top of this — float-hoop that keeps it in the unfolded state. This design provides conditions favorable for the orientation, habitation and movement of fish to a safe area. And the base, in fact, the bowl, also dampens the waves.