The National Aquarium in Baltimore, Md., recently unveiled the Harbor Wetland exhibit, a 929-m2 (10,000-sf) floating wetland, featuring more than 32,000 native shrubs and marsh grasses.
The habitat comprises recycled plastic matting planted with tidal wetland shrubs and grasses native to the region. The shrubs’ roots will grow into the water, drawing nutrients and contaminants from the water and providing microhabitats for dozens of native species. The matting is coated with a UV protectant for durability and fixed to a system of air-regulated pontoons that allow for adjustable buoyancy of the wetland.
It is a functional constructed wetland, a floating classroom, and a public attraction that features docks and walkways, shade cover, and interpretive signage that allows guests to learn about the wetland and the species drawn to it.
Water circulates through the wetland’s shallow channel by compressed air pumped into it using strategically placed airlifts. Compressed air is supplied to ceramic airstones at the bottom of custom 1.8-m (6-ft) airlift pipes. Thousands of tiny bubbles produced by the airstones rise to the surface, moving water through the wetland’s shallow channel.
Baltimore’s Whiting-Turner served as the contractor on this first-of-its-kind structure.
