August 1, 2019
On Saturday, July 27, 2019, the Bureau of Marine Fisheries sunk the first of three caisson gates slated for Fish and Wildlife's Artificial Reef Program in 2019. A caisson gate, constructed off heavy gauge steel with several tons of ballast in the keel, is a barrier used to dam off the open end of a dry dock.
The gates originated from the U.S. Navy and range in size from 110-140 feet long and roughly 30-40 feet high, with a width of 25 feet. The first deployment of the caisson gates occurred on the Atlantic City Reef in a "patch" reef now called the William Kane Reef in honor of the first New Jersey Artificial Reef Coordinator, William "Bill" Kane Figley. The other gates will be deployed elsewhere on the reef network.
This deployment now rests at the following coordinates:
North 39* 14.080' x West 074* 12.862'
The gate is in approximately 92 feet of water with a clearance of 65 feet from the surface.
This deployment will serve as habitat for up to 150 various types of marine species for the next 75 years or more. This project was sponsored in its entirety by the TheSportFishingFund.org. Comments or questions can be directed to Peter Clarke, New Jersey Reef Coordinator, at 609-748-2020.
For information on past and planned deployments visit the Artificial Reef Deployments page.
For information on the Artificial Reef Program visit the Artificial Reef Program page.
