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Discovery Channel Canada features Wave Robber coastal erosion project
Mon, 02/02/2015 - 9:54am
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The work of an inventor and researchers at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to combat coastal erosion is gaining notice in a place far north of the Louisiana shoreline—Canada.
Earlier this month, Discovery Channel Canada aired a segment about the Wave Robber. It’s designed to break up waves, and deposit the sediment carried in the water along the coastline.
Webster Pierce, from the coastal town of Cut Off, La., holds a patent on the wave suppression/sediment collection device. Researchers at UL Lafayette are studying its design, efficiency and commercial viability.
The Wave Robber, which is made of durable, UV-resistant plastic, resembles a small set of stairs, with pipes running through it. Anchored to the seafloor, it breaks up waves, absorbing their energy. The interior pipes “rob” the waves of sediment, which is deposited behind the Wave Robber
A team of researchers led by Dr. Daniel Gang, a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, is testing the device in the laboratory and in the field.
The research is being conducted with scale models set up inside a 1,000-gallon tank, and with full-size version of the Wave Robber installed along the shoreline near Cut Off in November 2012.
The video can be viewed on Discovery Channel Canada website.
Photo: Dr. Daniel Gang, who is leading a team of University researchers on the Wave Robber project to combat coastal erosion, is shown talking to a TV crew with Discovery Channel Canada in November.