Boskalis: Spotlight on Rotterdam Reef

Two years ago, Boskalis installed 17 Lego-like artificial reef blocks on the banks of the Nieuwe Waterweg in the Port of Rotterdam using their crane barge Kreeft.

These reef blocks, designed and produced by the Dutch start-up Reefy, are there to serve two purposes:

• to protect the banks of the Nieuwe Waterweg from the impact of large ship waves,

• at the same time to enhance biodiversity on and around the artificial reef.

Now, two years later, the results are stunning, said Boskalis.

Since the installation, the 3-meter-long and 6-ton weighing reef blocks have created a rich underwater landscape.

“Thanks to strategically placed tunnels, shaded passages and rough surfaces in and on the reefs, it has become a gathering place in which fish, crabs, algae, shellfish and shrimp flourish,” said Boskalis.

“Also from a functional point of view the Rotterdam Reef – as the reef in the Nieuwe Waterweg is called – is proving to be a success.”

The 17 reefs have weathered some heavy storms and have not moved an inch in the past two years, underlining their function as foreshore protection.