MIT Sea Grant and Town of Salisbury Discuss Protective Architected Reefs
MIT Sea Grant joined Senator Bruce Tarr, the Salisbury Town Selectboard, and other regulatory agencies and constituents for an MIT Architected Reef forum on October 8, 2024 at the Blue Ocean Music Hall in Salisbury Beach.
MIT Sea Grant, in collaboration with the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms, is developing artificial reefs that mimic the wave-attenuating effects of natural reefs and provide habitat for marine life. With funding from Sea Grant and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the partners set out to design sustainable structures to help protect the Massachusetts coast. Behind the architected reef, the force of waves would be reduced significantly.
Salisbury is particularly vulnerable to storms, flooding, and coastal erosion. The Town is looking for solutions to slow these climate impacts, and Salisbury Beach seeks to be a test site for the new technology. Town representatives explained that the current dune structure is only one or two storms away from a breach, which would not only impact coastal properties, but could also compromise power plant evacuation routes and other critical infrastructure.
Ben Bray from MIT Sea Grant discusses a model with constituents.
MIT Sea Grant Director Michael Triantafyllou presented the design and progress in the exploratory reef project. Members of MIT Sea Grant’s Advisory Services Group were also in attendance to discuss the project, including Coastal Ecologist Julie Simpson, Research Scientist Carolina Bastidas, and Geospatial Applications Developer Ben Bray.
MIT Sea Grant has conducted preliminary testing in the MIT wave tank and has also discussed the project with constituents from Salem and towns on the upper Cape.
Next steps include continuing improvement for optimal design, material providers, and costs, and entering a pilot testing phase in about a year, contingent on funding and agreements among constituents and regulatory agencies.
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