I-Corps: Scour Mitigation using 3-D Printed Concrete Coral Reefs

Award ID: 2027969

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project stems from its possible contribution to the shoreline preservation activities being conducted on a national and international level. According to recent studies, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates that the average cost of living shoreline protection ranges from $1000 to $5000 per linear foot (LF). The 3D printing technology may provide an alternative living shoreline protection at a fraction of this cost. The economic shoreline protection technique proposed through this research will provide federal and state agencies, landlords, and land developers with a user-friendly method to protect their shorelines and stop possible impending property damage. The project may suppy a low-maintenance living shoreline protection technique that provides a permanent solution for shoreline scour and positively impact different communities neighboring the shores. This I-Corps project targets the development and establishment of living shoreline protection to mitigate scour problems affecting coastlines and depreciating multi-billion dollars in structural assets per year. The Wasp technology for 3-D printing provides the end user with the potential for printing random and complicated shapes with internal voids without requiring form work or human intervention. The Wasp technology for 3D printing will be used in printing oyster and coral reefs by inserting printer needles with water pre-mixed with superplasticizers in a predesigned blended mix of dry cement and supplementary cementitious material to produce ultra-high-performance concrete reefs to be used in restoring decaying oyster and coral reef barriers; hence, mitigating the scour problem while restoring the ecological system. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Ruth Shuman