Living sea walls go live

Ports of Jersey has installed the first of the living sea wall tiles in Elizabeth Marina.

The eight specially designed tiles have been attached to vertical, smooth sea walls to replicate the nooks and crannies that occur naturally on rocky seashores. This will create an environment where different marine creatures can set up home.

Students from Jersey College for Girls and Les Quennevais were involved in the early stages of the project, and the commercially printed tiles are now affixed to the marina’s sea wall to increase the ecological value of the marina.

Head of Maritime Operations, Louise Stafford, who has been running the project, said: “We have installed eight tiles as a pilot project to see how well they attract sea creatures. We have chosen three different designs which mimic the features of natural rocky shorelines, increase the area available for species colonisation, and provide refuge from predators.

The tiles are made by Inland and Coastal using 3D printing, and are made from glass fibre reinforced concrete, generally using waste material from marina structures installed by Inland and Coastal Marina Systems. The three designs on trial are ‘Swim-through’ ‘Rockpool’ and ‘Large Rockpool’.