Eco-engineered seawall built for the protection of marine life

Swansea University researchers have led the Mumbles Sea Hive project, with the aim to include features in the seawall that will enhance biodiversity.

Sections of the wall are being made from concrete panels with ridges and patterns that mimic the rough contours of a rocky coast, to provide gaps and crevices where sea creatures can live.

Dr Ruth Callaway, a bioscientist at Swansea University and head of Blue Cube Marine Limited, led the research to test out which type of panel and location would work best in attracting marine species.  

The researchers placed 135 concrete test panels – hexagonal in shape - on the sea wall in Mumbles, before the building work got under way.

Each panel was cast with one of 13 different surface textures. The idea was to compare the different designs to see which would do best in attracting marine species.

The panels were erected at three different sites on the sea wall 50m apart, with some more exposed to the waves than others. At each site, panels were fixed in three rows at different heights, to assess any differences according to how long they were submerged under water.