Blackpools sea wall – a poor mans rock pool
Blackpool’s new promenade has a huge sea wall which is made up of hollow interlocking hexagonal concrete blocks – sounds horrible – but in fact these blocks make up a huge geometric pattern which looks quite good from the beach. Even better sea weed, barnicles and other sea creatures have attached themselves to the concrete and the hollows have filled with rocks and plants. Now that they are naturalised we find they are a great substitute for rock pools with lots of crabs and tiny fish and shrimps living in them and getting refreshed at high tide.
Steve
Very please to get your feedback, as I am the proud inventor of the Seabee, way back in the 1970s when I lived in Sydney.
The trouble with the blackpool wall [apart from the reflective walls of the steps] is that the stormwater drains from the south shore area discharge through the wall at various points. After a long dry period, the initial run-off can be highly toxic with a very high BOD [biological oxygen demand] and if the run-off occurs at tide levels below the toe of the wall, the run -off runs along the ‘pools’ and suffocates the creatures in them. I have seen this happen & of course, the little fish & the crabs don’t understand it if you try to catch them to save them.
So don’t take you kids to see it after a dry spell if its raining & the beach is dry.
Seabees can also be seen in Lincolnshire, Sussex, Ardglass, Chesapeake bay, Cocos Keeling Islands, solomom Island & many places in Australia, & most recently in kuwait.
regards
cb
I really liked the work you did back in the 70’s with the seabee’s, did this work ever get written up?
Mark Browne
Mark
Look me up on facebook, LinkedIn or use the obvious address at gmail [name.invention@]. Written up in various stages form idea, research to implementation. Completed jobs in UK [East, West South coasts] Ireland USA Australia, Oceania, Argentina, Kuwait.