3D printed marine applications
Coastal projects delivered with COBOD technology
1PRINT & UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI | USA
Wave protection reefs
1Print prints SEAHIVE, the University of Miami's perforated concrete modules that break wave energy while adding habitat, with pilots off Florida backed by the US Army Corps of Engineers.
BEEYONDERS | SPAIN
3D printed maritime caissons
In the EU-funded BEEYONDERS project, COBOD 3D prints maritime caissons for breakwaters and docks, reporting 23% faster production, 45% lower cost, and 53% lower emissions than conventional, with bio-walls that host marine life.
BEEYONDERS | SPAIN
3D printed maritime caissons
In the EU-funded BEEYONDERS project, COBOD 3D prints maritime caissons for breakwaters and docks, reporting 23% faster production, 45% lower cost, and 53% lower emissions than conventional, with bio-walls that host marine life.
STONEREEFS | DENMARK
Reef modules on harbor quay walls
StoneReefs 3D prints reef-textured concrete modules on a COBOD BOD2, mounting them onto Danish harbor quay walls where algae, mussels, and fish colonize within months, with cod and eel back in Fredericia.
STONEREEFS | IRELAND
Reef habitat around a rail expansion
In Waterford, more than 600 printed reef modules re-establish 1,500 m² (16,100 SF) of marine habitat around a major rail expansion, StoneReefs' largest biodiversity project to date, with HTL.tech, BAM, and Roadstone.
The coastal challenge
Coastlines need protection that does not kill the ecosystem around it
Grey infrastructure
Smooth seawalls, quay walls, and caissons give marine life little to hold onto, and standard molds make habitat textures hard to add.
Resource intensity
Traditional maritime caissons, the foundations under breakwaters and docks, require large volumes of standard concrete and steel reinforcement.
Wave energy and erosion
Rising seas and stronger storms increase wave loads on coastal structures and on the communities and infrastructure behind them.
Why construction 3D printing
The same technology that builds housing and industrial structures on land applies directly to the coast. Three properties make it a fit for marine work.
01
Design freedom
Printing places material exactly where the structure needs it. That allows anti-funicular caisson shapes that cut reinforcement, along with reef textures and cavities that molds cannot reproduce affordably.
02
Material flexibility
COBOD's open materials approach lets partners print with CO₂-reduced cement, local aggregates, steel fibres in place of rebar, crushed mussel shells, and bioreceptive mixes tuned for marine settlement.
03
Efficient production
Modules and caissons print in days with small crews, using less concrete and steel than conventional methods while cutting waste, cost, and emissions.
Ready to build with construction 3D printing?
Tell us about your project or production plans, and we’ll help you find the right COBOD setup.