SLAGREEF, slag based artificial reefs design preliminary results

Abstract

Climate change exerts a profound impact on coastal regions, with severe environmental consequences. Coastal areas bear the brunt of intense storms that adversely affect both beaches and urban infrastructures situated along the coastlines, resulting in substantial harm to marine ecosystems. Furthermore, proximate urban areas contribute to the contamination of seawater, leading to significant adverse effects on marine life. Conversely, industries such as steel and aggregates generate substantial quantities of slag furnace and inert waste residues, respectively. Although there is often some utilization of these by-products, a considerable volume ultimately finds its way into landfills or serves as backfill. Consequently, the global challenge lies in effectively repurposing these waste residues. This abstract presents a preliminary slag based artificial reefs (AR) design focused on the exploration and advancement of novel materials derived from slag furnace residues and inert waste from. The construction employed a 3D slag-concrete printer to craft artificial reefs. First design is being tested since summer 2023 at Obsea underwater observatory, where a dedicated 24/7 monitoring system was designed and deployed to study how the artificial reef serves a dual purpose by safeguarding coastal areas and contributing to the restoration of damaged ecosystems. Keywords - Recycling, construction technologies, 3D printing, metallurgical slag, mining slag, artificial reef, underwater monitoring, underwater life, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and image processing.