INTRODUCTION

FRONT PAGE INTRODUCTION OBJECTIVES METHODS OF ANALYSIS HARBORING-AQUATIC-LIFE ARTIFICIAL REEFS WAVE-BREAKING ARTIFICIAL REEFS CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES

PROJECT OVERVIEW: Artificial reefs are a relatively new idea even though they have been in practice around the world for hundreds of years. Artificial reefs have been placed ever since man began sailing waters. When a ship would sink in tropical waters, coral and other wildlife would inhabit the ship. Only recently has the practice of engineering artificial reefs become a reality. Now engineers can control the placement, wave-breaking potential, and organisms that inhabit the artificial reef. Also, there are several case studies of current artificial reefs available to scientists and engineers to evaluate the success of artificial reefs. TYPES OF ARTIFICIAL REEFS: Artificial reefs can be designed for two broad applications (click each link to find out more): 1) To Harbor Aquatic Life 2) To Break Waves The first type of artificial reef is a man-made structure that is placed at the bottom of the ocean to facilitate and harbor aquatic life in the coral reef ecosystem. The second type is a wave-breaking structure, which is very similar to detached breakwaters.