Discover how a specialized cement formulation is paving the way for more eco-friendly and resilient coastline infrastructure, safeguarding our precious marine ecosystems.
Protecting our Underwater Wonders
However, the crucial ecological services and support for local economies that coastlines offer speak louder than words. Dynamic ecosystems maintain biodiversity and serve as natural buffer zones to eliminate erosion and storm surges – the championships of our planet.
Human activities — such as urbanization, pollution, and unsustainable development — have interacted with severe human-induced climate change to leave many coastal areas highly vulnerable. Concerns regarding the tradeoffs between defense and ecological functions have limited the extent to which traditional artificial coastlines structures (e.g., dikes or engineered constructions) can be implemented [11].
However, scientists at Southeast University and the University of Chinese Academy of Science have organized the construction industry to ensure that coastlines can be saved by building special formula cements. This new movement hopes to achieve a delicate balance between building resilience and respecting the natural wonders that flourish in these unique habitats.
Harnessing the Power of Nature’s Builders
This cement is successful because it encourages the growth of biofilm, which is essential in a healthy coastal ecosystem. Microbial (bacterial, algal, and fungal) biofilms can have profoundly positive interactions with marine biota — by providing food for grazers, nutrients in ecosystems that are often nutrient limited and also representing the basis of settlement cues for larval organisms.
The pH of traditional cement used in artificial reef blocks and other coastal infrastructure is often greater than +12, which will be extremely damaging to the delicate biofilm communities. Yet the new cement mixture itself uses two chemical ingredients to overcome this: polyacrylamide (a type of synthetic resin commonly used in water treatment) and chitosan (pronounced kigh-TOE-san), a natural sugar obtained from the shells of shrimp and other crustaceans.
Together, these additions increase the biocompatibility of the substrate for robust biofilm formation and promote growth of transplanted coral samples. The tested surface-treated cement samples had the most intense biofilm development, comparable to that produced by bulk-treatment options and untreated control samples containing plain cement.
Conclusion
The innovation and production of this eco-friendly cement formulation, represent a big leap ahead on behalf of our beautiful coastline ecosystems which need urgent worldwide protection & restoration. The result: a science-based, eco-friendly solution that can help to ensure continued biodiversity, resilience and economic benefits of healthy coastlines by promoting the growth of key biofilm communities and improved conditions for marine life. So while the team continues to optimize and test this cement’s long-term durability, we can anticipate a day where coastal infrastructure and ecological conservation work side by side, protecting the permanent health of some of our most important coastal resources.
