Engineering of the Reef Balls
As part of the overall project plan, Stanford Development Company Ltd. is going to fully restore the windward beach to its original condition. About 50 years ago, non-beach compatible sand from dredging operations was placed on Maiden Island by the U.S. Navy. The dredging was for the creation of a channel between Maiden Island and Antigua. Therefore, Stanford Development Company Ltd. has removed all the dredged sand and will recover it with natural beach sand. The breakwater reef was specifically engineered to lower the wave energy in the beach area so that the new natural sand will remain stable. Stable sand means clearer water, which is healthier for the coral. Many engineers were involved directly or indirectly in the design of the breakwater, including Greg Morris and Associates (Dr. Greg Morris), Caribbean Oceanography Group (Dr. Alfredo Torruella), and Dr. Lee Harris who is a consulting breakwater engineer and a professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. The U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center conducted extensive wave tank tests for a similar planned Reef Ball submerged breakwater demonstration project for Miami which had direct relevance to Maiden Island's design
Six different anchoring solutions were used, depending on the specific bottom type in the area to insure that the reef balls will be stable during hurricanes events. Incidentally, the engineers were impressed that they did not need an underlayment / filter cloth or other support to keep the Reef Balls from sinking into the sand....the Reef Balls allowed the seagrass to survive and so the root system of the seagrass acts as a biological underlayment / filter cloth.
No engineering details were overlooked, for example, Stanford Development Company Ltd. used a 'Total Station surveying method', which is accurate to within centimeters. This methodology allowed accurate placement so that existing natural corals would not be damaged by the placement of the Reef Balls. A special mark had to be established called the 'biological tide line', which is the water level at which marine growth stops. The Reef Balls were made of different sizes so that the top of each Reef Ball would be exactly at the 'biological tide line.' This makes for the most effective submerged breakwater, and also maximizes the biological growing surfaces for the new reef.
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