Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture Jake Boswell, landscape alumnus Marty Koelsch (BSLA ’18), and Assistant Professor of Civil Environmental and Geodetic Engineering Lisa Burris have received a US utility patent for Permeable Concrete Vessel for Creating Floating Aquatic Habitats. The vessels are used as floating planters whose trees absorb algae-encouraging nutrients from the water.
A permeable floating concrete vessel for creating floating aquatic habitats is disclosed. The vessel includes an interior space to hold growth material and a plant. The vessels includes one or more channels so a root of the plant can extend through the channel and into a body of water in which the vessel is secured. The vessel is made from a buoyant material, such as water-permeable concrete material. In an exemplary embodiment the water-permeable concrete material includes a mixture of cement, glass microspheres, expanded glass aggregate, and microfibers. Two or more vessels may be connected together via a connecting member to form an array of the vessels.
Permeable Concrete Vessel for Creating Floating Aquatic Habitats
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