New Resilience Center in Louisiana Aims to Preserve the World’s Coastlines

One of the innovative avenues that has been opened by 3D printing, is in the field of conservation and ecology. While not the foremost subject in the additive manufacturing world, there have been several large names taking part in nature conservation and wildlife habitat resilience projects such as Volvo in 2019. There has also been a multitude of startups and university research programs that have been utilizing 3D printing as a means of protecting and creating pieces of the environment that help maintain the biodiversity and landscape of the land, coasts, and seas of the world.

As part of a push for the preservation and conservation of the American Gulf Coast, energy sector investment firm Danos Ventures has partnered with Natrx, a company specializing in “nature-based coastal resilience solutions” which includes 3D printing technologies. Together, they will be establishing a “resilience technology center of excellence” in Amelia, Louisiana.

The new facility in Louisiana is large enough to accommodate the construction, testing, and shipping of ExoForm modules worldwide.

The new Amelia facility is a lofty 5,000 square feet (464.5 m²) and is planned to become the center of advanced manufacturing, testing, and shipping center for Natrx’s ExoForm coastal resilience modules. These specialized pieces of artificial wildlife habitats and easily constructible barriers are made from DryForming technology, which allows ExoForm module pieces to be modeled, 3D printed and ready for deployment in a single day. These specialized modules, affectionately known as “Cajun Coral” can be placed along rivers, coasts and waterways, to help limit erosion, preserve wildlife and even create artificial underwater reefs.