Floating 'Forests' Protecting Shores
New Innovation from Australia Source: University of Queensland Preventing Hurricane Wind and Wave Damage In Australia, a team of civil engineers has designed and patented innovative, artificial, floating forests. They're designed to dissipate wave and wind action during natural disasters like hurricanes. This is a first. The engineers have put a windbreaker on top of a floating breakwater structure that is one-half mile long. It's designed for areas vulnerable to severe hurricanes/cyclones like the Philippines and Malaysia. Protecting Vulnerable Coastlines The design has a concrete surface that's tilted upstream to dissipate the energy of oncoming waves. And the top of the floating structure has a forest of artificial "trees", actually concrete and plastic tubes that are 65 feet tall. The structures cut wind speeds before they hit the shore. The tubes are hollow and also capture volumes of water from the waves. This novel invention not on...