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Reef Arches pitches modular ‘living-shoreline’ units to North Bay Village task force
Summary
A cofounder of Reef Arches demonstrated concrete modular units designed to restore oysters, mangroves and corals to seawalls and spoil islands; members asked about permitting, costs and applications at local parks and agreed to pursue follow‑up conversations with the company and local project leads.
Nick, cofounder of Reef Arches, told North Bay Village’s sustainability task force that his company’s modular concrete “reef arches” can create habitat on seawalls, pilings and spoil islands while reducing erosion. “We’re the only technology where mangroves can actually grow through a concrete structure,” he said during a slide presentation to the group.
The company showed a Palm Bay restoration that rebuilt about 10 feet of beach and said the arch units range from roughly 50 pounds for volunteer-installed inserts to 1,200‑pound structures that can be bolted together into 15,000‑pound assemblies for high‑energy locations. Nick said the concrete mixes can be tuned for oyster and coral health and reported laboratory and field tests indicating the pieces reduce wave energy and resist scouring.
Task force members pressed on permitting and cost. The vice chair asked whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and county building officials would approve installations. Nick said Reef Arches had secured an Army Corps permit in six days for a prior client and that DEP had permitted some installations or identified exemptions when the product does not touch the seabed; he described internal design changes to address concerns such as manatee or turtle entrapment.
On price and installation, Nick said a fair comparison with riprap depends on linear feet of shoreline, water depth and permitting requirements, then emphasized that Reef Arches’ modular, land‑deployable approach can reduce mobilization costs. Members suggested testing the technology on local projects including Harvey Rubin (Civic) Park and Vogel Park pilings; the mayor offered to connect Reef Arches to local engineers and the village manager to explore permitting steps.
The task force encouraged follow‑up: staff and members committed to share local project contacts and to ask engineering leads to compare riprap plans with reef-arches proposals. Nick left his email in the meeting chat and offered to provide cost estimates for specific shoreline segments.
The presentation and questions underscored a broader interest in incentivizing living shorelines through updates to the village’s green code and seawall rules; staff and commissioners said they would pursue follow‑up technical meetings and additional feasibility work.
