This disclosure provides interlocking blocks that can be connected on any side to form a structure, wall, foundation, floor, building, flotation device, gardening structure, or toy. The interlocking blocks typically comprise center openings and connecting openings on each side and can be connected with hardware through the connecting openings. The center openings allow for materials such as pipes, wires, conduit, and rebar to pass through interlocked blocks. Connected blocks can also be filled with fortifying material to strengthen the structure. Sides of connected blocks can be covered with faceplates to direct flow of fortifying material and aid in the creation of desired configurations. Also provided are connectors for connecting sides of the interlocking blocks.

A seawall may have an articulated sea-facing surface that forms pockets, tunnels, and other irregular surfaces that provide habitat for aquatic life. The seawall may be formed from panels of cast concrete, with the panels having protrusions extending from the sea-facing side. Extensions may be affixed to cast panels to further enhance the habitat created by the seawall and to attenuate incident waves.

The present invention relates to an anti-erosion system made of geo-synthetic material, preferably of polysteel raw material (polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) mixture) instead of only polypropylene or polyester or nylon, resulting in a compromise between the mechanical properties of polypropylene, the chemical properties of polyethylene, and the good resistance to the environmental agents achieved through the incorporation of molecular chain stabilizers. The fraction of PP should range from 50% to 90% and the fraction of PE from 10% to 50%.

An artificial reef to be anchored to the seabed comprises two or more juxtaposed conduits which are positioned in parallel with the direction of wave propagation. Both conduits include directrices. The upper conduit includes directrices which drive the flow of the wave's crest, and the lower conduit includes directrices which drive the water diverging from the apertures in the area under the wave's trough. The upper and lower conduits are hydraulically connected, each connection comprising a shut-down valve associated with a useful energy-generating unit.

A transportable wave suppressor and sediment collection system for suppressing wave action along the shore of a body of water, which includes a plurality of interconnected sections, each section including a base, a forward wall, and a rear wall, and having a plurality of flow pipes extending from the forward wall to the rear wall, and further including a plurality of shelves on the forward wall for dispersing wave energy, while redirecting and using the wave energy to allow water and sediment to flow into the flow pipes and for collecting sediment that is not carried into the flow pipes and settles on the shelves for being contacted by a following wave to carry the sediment into the flow pipes. In some deeper water embodiments, the sections may include a base portion, a top portion and one or more spacer portions to enable raising or changing the height of the system.

Materials composed of inorganic and organic compounds that inhibit, promote and stabilize nanostructured crystalline calcium carbonate for the recruitment and growth of oyster larvae and spat. By using simple chemical precursors in a bottom-up or top-down approach, a variety of layered material compositions can be obtained which result in a standalone material or one that can be applied to and supported by cementitious substrates. The chemical compounds and processes described in this invention are scalable, thus providing for manufacturing small or large quantities of tailored materials, utilizing a variety of techniques, such as but not limited to 3-D printing, spraying, molding and freeze casting to produce a broad spectrum of material compositions and forms suitable for a variety of oyster species and estuarine environments.

A process for forming an artificial reef includes forming a form having a geometric shape, applying at least one blockout onto a surface of the form such that the blockout extends outwardly of the surface of the form, applying a sprayable concrete over the form and over a portion of the blockout, curing the sprayable concrete on the form for a period of time so that the sprayable concrete adheres to the blockout, and removing the cured sprayable concrete and the adhered blockout together from the surface of the form. The sprayable concrete is applied over the form until the depth of the sprayable concrete is approximately equal to a depth of the blockout. The blockout is a cinder block.

Artificial reef for recreational diving (1) comprising a base (2) of a slab of reinforced concrete and a vertically extending superstructure (3) made of concrete of inert lightweight materials that is ejected onto a structural frame comprising a plurality of stem members (32) around a trunk (31) implanted into the base and plastic grid items (12) suspended thereupon in a predetermined manner so as to form, following concrete ejection, a reef having a form and aesthetics corresponding to that of a natural reef, comprising blind crevices (9) and through holes (7) leading to chambers (8) and smaller or larger cavities (10, 11), constituting microhabitats and refuges for targeted benthic and benthopelagic organisms. The reef (1) is founded onto the seabed with one or more beams (30) introduced into holes (4) that pass perpendicularly through the base (2) and extend vertically along the superstructure (3). Artificial reefs (1) are organized in groups (20) defining an artificial oasis for recreational diving within a planned section (ABCD) of the seabed.

There is described a module for an underwater structure. The module comprises a plurality of walls defining a cavity configured such that at least two walls of said plurality of walls confront one another to provide respective stack support surfaces for supporting said module, said walls are substantially parallel to form complementary stack surfaces, such that one stack surface may rest on a surface and the other complementary stack surface provides a rest surface for another module. Two or more walls of said plurality of walls each comprise an aperture providing a conduit through each two or more walls to said cavity, respective apertures of said two or more walls and said cavity configured to provide a water flow path into, through and from said cavity. The water flow path may be considered unconstrained or at least substantially unconstrained in that water may flow through the apertures and cavity without deviation or interruption other than by the module or cavity walls. In stacked formation an aperture may be occluded or partially occluded but still the module when on its own may provide water pathways which may be considered unconstrained or substantially unconstrained.

A transportable wave suppressor and sediment collection system for suppressing wave action along the shore of a body of water, which includes a plurality of interconnected sections, each section including a base, a forward wall, and a rear wall, and having a plurality of flow pipes extending from the forward wall to the rear wall, and further including a plurality of shelves on the forward wall for dispersing wave energy, while redirecting and using the wave energy to allow water and sediment to flow into the flow pipes and for collecting sediment that is not carried into the flow pipes and settles on the shelves for being contacted by a following wave to carry the sediment into the flow pipes. In some deeper water embodiments, the sections may include a base portion, a top portion and one or more spacer portions to enable raising or changing the height of the system.