3D-printed ceramic and clay-based artificial reef and settlement structures for port infrastructure, developed as part of an engineering-ecological concept for the future expansion of Eilat Port.
A joint project of CAMERI, the Technion Design-Tech Lab and Bar-Ilan University, developing an engineering-ecological concept for Israel Ports Company’s future Eilat Port expansion, which must extend toward a sensitive, climate-threatened coral reef area. Stage A, in 2025, developed the initial concept for the port-ecology interface. Stage B moves to physical prototypes: artificial reef substrates 3D-printed in clay and ceramic, and laser-cut “bio-rock” metal structures, tested at a pilot site beneath the existing quay, with a second site at a future steel pier designed but not yet built. Prototypes are installed in phases and monitored quarterly, both structurally and biologically, over about a year.
Dr. Gil Wang is CEO of CAMERI, the Coastal and Marine Engineering Research Institute, and a researcher at the Leon Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa. The project is led together with Prof. Ezri Tarazi of the Design-Tech Lab at the Technion Faculty of Architecture, with Prof. Oren Levy of Bar-Ilan University as marine biology consultant.
