Deployment of Droplock Ecological Scour Protection has been completed 12 miles off the shore of Long Island, NY in coordination with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
The project partners are ECOncrete Tech Ltd., provider for bio-enhancing concrete technology, and Holcim US, a cement producer. The concrete unit requires up to 30% less material, minimizes native habitat degradation, and supports ecological uplift in offshore wind projects.
“The unit’s ecological properties mimic natural marine habitats’ features while providing the armoring functionality required for scour protection,” said Dr. Ido Sella, ECOncrete Tech CEO and co-founder. “Offshore wind projects that integrate nature inclusive technologies are able to gain ecosystem services not achievable before. The ecological uplift and long term functionality of ecologically sensitive solutions can mitigate some of the associated impacts of offshore infrastructure. The ecological performance will be verified through comprehensive scientific monitoring comparing the bio-enhanced system to the standard rock based scour protection to set new industry standards for responsible construction.”
“This deployment of materials is exciting and timely. The Nature Conservancy believes there is great potential in intentionally designing and constructing materials used in offshore wind energy development in ways that are intended to create habitat for fish and other marine life,” said Carl LoBue, Nature Conservancy ocean program director.
“Renewable energy from wind is a critical part of building a more sustainable world and our Net Zero commitments. We also recognize wind generation needs to be built in a way that minimizes the ecological and environmental impacts,” said Michael LeMonds, VP, Environment, Land & Public Affairs at Holcim US. “Meeting our renewable energy goals together with ECOncrete Tech shows how an innovative approach using well-established building materials can protect natural habitats and help them flourish.”
This project provides the first and only structural solution that benefits both foundation resiliency and the local marine ecosystem. In a recent report, The Nature Conservancy (recommended ECOncrete’s nature-based design for cable protection and scour protection.
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