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The Goal

Ports require environmentally friendly, and structurally sound infrastructure for daily operations. Living Ports showcases marine infrastructure engineered for this goal, and encourage the adoption of this flexible technology in maritime construction best practices.

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The Challenge

Until now, coastal and marine infrastructures have been built with little environmental consideration. Over 70% of marine infrastructures are concrete based, yet concrete is known to damage underwater ecosystems, be vulnerable to degradation under a changing climate, and come with a large carbon footprint. A flexible solution for lowering carbon footprint, ecologically-friendly, structurally superior concrete is needed urgently and at scale to meet the needs of ports and marine construction.

How we built it:

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The Living Ports consortium led by ECOncrete was awarded the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Fast Track to Innovation funding to deploy a model solution at the Port of Vigo. ECOncrete supplied habitat-generating concrete technology for a quay-wall and for coastal armoring. Additionally the Living Ports Project features an underwater observation deck for the public to view marine life in the port developing on the ecologically engineered seawalls. The installed Coastalock armor units provide water-retaining intertidal habitats. Biological monitoring of the site is conducted by specialists from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).

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Let’s bring your project to life

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    Wolfgang Kunther and Jon C. Svendsen
    DTU
    “With the LIVING PORTS project, DTU and their international collaborators are at the forefront of future harbor developments. The project creates the tools and documentation for next generation harbors that not only provide crucial infrastructure, but also become vital living spaces for a wide range of marine organisms. In the LIVING PORTS project, we will reveal the benefits of concrete structures that are designed to support life.”
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    Intertidal Ecosystems along an Urban Shoreline

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    Nearshore habitats for marine life and coastal birds during coastal construction

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    Marine Mattresses – Vineyard Wind, USA

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    UK Environment Agency Coastal Armoring Research, Newlyn, UK