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Who we help  /  Ports and marinas
For harbour masters, port operators and marina owners

How much is sand drift costing you in dredging?

CCell reefs calm the water around your entrance and structures,, designed to cut the sand pushed into your channel and the storm energy that gets through. Less dredging, less storm damage, more days open.

Request a sediment and storm review See a reef under a pier
Uses your existing recordsBuilt around your entranceWorks around operations
What it is costing you

The sea keeps sending the bill

1

Dredging, again

Sand moves into the channel and the entrance, and has to be taken out every season.

2

Storm damage

Pontoons, walls and moorings take a beating, and repairs disrupt berth holders.

3

Days lost

Rough water at the entrance closes the port or stops boats going out.

4

Cloudy water

Poor water quality puts off visitors and makes life harder for marine life around the berths.

Your dredging case

Put a number on the problem

The sediment and storm review starts with what you already spend. We use your dredging records and wave data to show where the sand comes from, and what a reef could change.

  • Where the sand comes fromSediment pathways into your channel and entrance, from modelling and your survey history.
  • When the damage happensWhich storms and wave directions cause the most disruption.
  • What a reef would doA first view of whether a reef would reduce sediment build-up and calm the entrance.
Illustrative example

Ten years of dredging

Typical dredging campaign[US$ x]
Campaigns per year[n]
Storm repairs and lost days per year[US$ y]
Ten-year cost of doing nothing[US$ total]

The review replaces these with your own figures and sets them against the cost of a reef.

How it works for you

Start with the data you already have

Step 1
Fixed price

Sediment and storm review

Your dredging records and wave data, reviewed with ours, and a clear answer on whether a reef is worth pursuing.

Request a review
Step 2
Quoted

Site modelling

Waves, currents and sediment around your entrance and structures, with reef options tested.

About our modelling
Step 3
Quoted

Design and permits

Reef layout planned around navigation, berths and existing structures.

Step 4
Quoted

Install and monitor

Installed in stages to avoid disruption, then we keep an eye on the reef as it grows.

The 80 m pier at Royal Resorts, Cancun, with the CCell reef at its end (CCell photo)
Evidence

A reef under a working pier

At Royal Resorts in Cancun, CCell installed a reef at the end of an 80 m pier, powered from the existing supply. Within six months the bare steel frame had become a living reef, and it kept growing after the power was switched off.

80 mpier
6 monthsto a living reef
~6 mmof rock a month
Read the Royal Resorts story
What else the reef brings

Cleaner, livelier water

A reef around your structures doesn't just calm the water. It brings the harbour to life.

Shellfish that filterMussels and oysters settle on the reef and help clear cloudy water.
Habitat under jettiesFish shelter in the structure, in places that had little life before.
Something for visitorsA reef worth snorkelling near the marina adds to what you can offer.
Evidence for reportingOur reef monitoring records the habitat created, for your environmental and sustainability reports.

Mussels growing on a CCell reef unit. Why we build reefs

Questions operators ask

The practical bits

Will a reef affect navigation?

The layout is designed around your channels, berths and safety zones, and tested in the model before anything is built.

Can it be installed while we operate?

Yes. Reef units are modular and installed in stages, so operations can carry on.

How is it powered?

From mains or solar. At Royal Resorts the reef ran from the pier's existing supply through the reef's own power module.

What maintenance is needed?

Very little. Our control system flags any problem with an individual unit, and we look after inspections and repairs under a service contract.

From the blog

Reefs, waves and harbours

A wave breaking over a reef
Technology - Mar 2022

Reefs Vs. Waves

Reefs have been winning the battle against waves for millennia. How do they do it? And how can we, as engineers, replicate their success?

Read the post

More from the blog

Sediment and storm review

Find out what a reef could save you

Send us your location and what you know about dredging and storm damage. We will tell you whether a reef is worth a closer look.

Paul Savill, Head of Client Services
paul@ccell.eco  |  +44 (0)207 690 0485

Request a review

Main problem
Do you have dredging records?