Odense Port, in partnership with Stonereefs, is installing165 3D-printed reefs along the quay at Odense Port. The aim is to enhance biodiversity and increase marine life in the Fjord.

Small hiding places, rough surfaces and bunk beds for fish. This is the recipe for a healthier fjord ecosystem supporting everything from seaweed to cod. To this end, Odense Port has entered a partnership with the Danish start-up Stonereefs, which specialises in 3D-printing unique concrete reefs that can be installed along quay walls at Danish port facilities.

“For Odense Port, this is an exciting project to launch on our premises. The environment in and around Odense Fjord has enormous potential, and we want to help unlock that potential and create favourable conditions. These 3D-printed reefs offer us an entirely new way to use our existing quay infrastructure while taking action that can be implemented quickly and have a real impact on biodiversity,” says Jakob Kjær Rasmussen, Sustainability Manager at Odense Port.

The project, one of the first of its kind in Denmark, involves printing and installing 165 concrete reefs along the quay edge at the port. As a result, the reefs will neither take up space on the seabed nor interfere with vessels alongside the quay. Even so, they will create hundreds of new habitats for animal and plant life in Odense Fjord.

An idea that works

Stonereefs, the company behind the reefs, has experience from projects in Copenhagen and Ireland, among other locations. In these projects, the 3D-printed reefs contributed to an increase in marine life around the installations after only a few months.

“For the project at Odense Port, we have custom-designed a reef that can provide even better conditions for organisms both large and small. The project is also particularly interesting because it is being carried out at such a busy commercial port, where we believe there is significant potential,” says Mikkel Brich, CEO of Stonereefs.

The reefs are custom designed by marine biologists for each project and manufactured at a facility in Brande, where a 3D printer extrudes them to the required dimensions. They are installed in recesses in the sheet-pile quay walls at depths of up to 10 metres, creating habitats where previously there were only smooth steel surfaces. Because the reefs are designed and manufactured specifically for this purpose, installation is more efficient and the ecological impact believed to be greater than with the traditional construction of rock reefs on the seabed.

SDU to document the impact

The University of Southern Denmark (SDU) is monitoring the project and will assess the impact of the reefs. For Odense Port, it has been important not only to launch a project of this kind, but also to document its effects.

“As Denmark’s largest commercial port, we have a vast expanse of quay infrastructure. If installing reefs such as these can make a positive contribution to life in the fjord, we are pleased to be able to do so,” says Jakob Kjær Rasmussen, adding:

“We are starting with reef modules at various locations at Lindø, but we have already agreed to install reefs in the inner harbour as well, specifically so that we can compare the impact across several locations.”

The reefs at Lindø will be installed in week 43, and the first results should be visible by the end of the year. In the longer term, the aim is for the reefs to form the basis of a mature reef community that delivers measurable benefits for nature in Odense Fjord, with stable populations of both fish and mussels.