Morningside Park, a beloved neighborhood park in Miami with sweeping views of Biscayne Bay, will quickly pilot an modern strategy to coastal resilience.
BIOCAP tiles, a 3D-printed modular system designed to help marine life and cut back wave impression alongside city seawalls, shall be put in on the present seawall there in spring 2025. BIOCAP stands for Biodiversity Enchancment by Optimizing Coastal Adaptation and Efficiency.
Developed by our team of architects and marine biologists at Florida Worldwide College, the uniquely textured prototype tiles are designed to check a brand new strategy for serving to cities equivalent to Miami adapt to rising sea ranges whereas concurrently restoring ecological balance alongside their shorelines.
The undertaking receives funding from the Nationwide Science Basis and the Environmental Safety Company.
Ecological Prices of Conventional Seawalls
Seawalls have lengthy served as a major protection against coastal erosion and storm surges. Sometimes constructed of concrete and starting from 6 to 10 ft in top, they’re constructed alongside shorelines to dam waves from eroding the land and flooding close by city areas.
Nonetheless, they typically come at an ecological price. Seawalls disrupt natural shoreline dynamics and might wipe out the advanced habitat zones that marine life depends on.
Marine organisms are essential in sustaining coastal water high quality by filtering extra vitamins, pollution and suspended particles. A single grownup oyster can filter 20-50 gallons of water day by day, eradicating nitrogen, phosphorus and solids that will in any other case gasoline harmful algal blooms. These blooms deplete oxygen ranges and injury marine ecosystems.
Filter-feeding organisms additionally reduce turbidity, which is the cloudiness of water attributable to suspended sediment and particles. Much less water turbidity means extra mild can penetrate, which advantages seagrasses that require sunlight for photosynthesis. These seagrasses convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and energy-rich sugars whereas offering essential food and habitat for numerous marine species.
Swirling Shapes, Shaded Grooves
In contrast to the flat, lifeless surfaces of typical concrete seawalls, every BIOCAP tile is designed with shaded grooves, crevices and small, water-holding pockets. These textured options mimic pure shoreline situations and create tiny properties for barnacles, oysters, sponges and different marine organisms that filter and improve water quality.
The tile’s swirling floor patterns enhance the general floor space, providing more room for colonization. The shaded recesses are meant to assist regulate temperature by offering cooler, extra steady microenvironments. This thermal buffering can help marine life within the face of rising water temperatures and extra frequent warmth occasions pushed by local weather change.
One other potential advantage of the tiles is decreasing the impression of waves.
When waves hit a pure shoreline, their vitality is steadily absorbed by irregular surfaces, tide pools and vegetation. In distinction, when waves strike vertical concrete seawalls, the vitality is mirrored again into the water slightly than absorbed. This wave reflection – the bouncing again of wave vitality – can amplify wave motion, enhance erosion on the base of the wall and create more hazardous conditions during storms.
The textured surfaces of the BIOCAP tiles are designed to assist diffuse wave vitality by mimicking the pure dissipation discovered on undisturbed shorelines.
The design of BIOCAP takes cues from nature. The tile shapes are primarily based on how water interacts with totally different surfaces at excessive tide and low tide. Concave tiles, which curve inward, and convex tiles, which curve outward, are put in at totally different ranges alongside the seawall. The aim is to deflect waves away from the seawall, cut back direct impression and assist minimize erosion and turbulence across the wall’s basis.
How We Will Measure Success
After the BIOCAP tiles are put in, we plan to evaluate how the seawall redesign enhances biodiversity, improves water high quality and reduces wave vitality. This two-year pilot part will assist assess the long-term worth of ecologically designed infrastructure.
To guage biodiversity, we are going to use underwater cameras to seize time-lapse imagery of the marine life that colonizes the tile surfaces. These observations will assist in documenting species range and habitat use over time.
To evaluate water high quality, we have now developed a specialised prototype tile with sensors that may measure pH, dissolved oxygen ranges, salinity, turbidity and temperature in actual time. This information will present perception into how the tiles have an effect on native water situations.
Lastly, to measure wave attenuation and the discount of wave pressure, we are going to mount strain sensors on each the BIOCAP tiles and the adjoining conventional seawall sections. This comparability will enable us to quantify variations in wave vitality throughout various tidal situations and storm occasions.
As coastal cities confront the twin challenges of increasing threats from climate change and environmental degradation, the BIOCAP undertaking gives what we hope shall be an instance of a resilient, nature-based answer that advantages each people and the atmosphere.
Within the coming 12 months, we’ll be watching with hope as the brand new BIOCAP tiles start to welcome marine life, providing a glimpse into how nature may reclaim and thrive alongside our city shorelines.
(Shahin Vassigh, of Florida International University, co-authored this report. The Dialog is an unbiased and nonprofit supply of stories, evaluation and commentary from tutorial consultants.)
Copyright 2025 Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials might not be printed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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