Of all the strange wrecks one can dive at around the country, the sunken subway cars around the waters of Atlantic City are by far an unusual spectacle.

The Artificial reef program in the waters of the mid-Atlantic was an attempt to provide a way to bring fish and other marine creatures back to the featureless flat bottomed ocean bed.  The Atlantic City Reef is one of the oldest artificial reefs in existence today and is made up of several man-made objects ranging from large ships to army tanks that have been sunk strategically around the waters.

In August 2001, New York City subway cars were slid off a barge into the Atlantic Ocean ten miles east of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. This artificial reef was a success and resulted in a subsequent attempt at the Atlantic City Reef in April 2008 where 44 decommissioned stainless steel “Brightliner’ subway cars were placed in a circular pattern in the reef to provide Scuba Divers access.

A total of 600 subway cars are scheduled to be sunk in the Atlantic to be used as artificial reefs, as the high cost of disposal of these cars otherwise due to the asbestos present in them would be prohibitive. The Asbestos has no apparent effect underwater, which is why for the New York MTA, this method of Subway car recycling is favorable.

Before the rail cars were sunk, materials that were potentially dangerous, such as the oily and greasy undercarriages, were removed; doors and windows were taken off; and the interiors were steam cleaned.The ends of the cars were taken off to allow for fish and scuba divers easy access to enter at either end of these 60 foot cars.

The site of the sunken Brightliner subway cars can be reached by charters run by several local dive centers. Depths vary from 80feet up to 130ft, and visibility is often poor.

Currently the subway cars are still undergoing their transformational process, inhabited only by black sea bass, tautog, and lobsters, but over time, coral anemones, barnacles and mussels will attach to the surface and attract hundreds of fishes.

However as of July 2009 the New Jersey state announced that it would no longer sink New York’s old stainless steel subway cars into the Atlantic Reef, as reports that the stainless steel cars were deteriorating rapidly as compared to the steel ‘Red Bird’ cars which are still intact. Divers are advised to take care while penetrating these wrecks.

So the next time your in Atlantic City, why not take the underwater subway and remember to pack your scuba gear… if your longing to see these magnificent structures underwater better hurry, as there may not be much left of them over time.

Photos by: andrewl04

The Osborne Reef is an artificially created reef off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida that is constructed using concrete dolos or concrete shaped like ‘jacks.’ Still popular today with divers, this artificial reef is made up of a wreckage of an old 60 foot barge, tires and concrete erojacks or dolos.  The reason for the creation of artificial reefs in this area is due to the fact that the Boward county has a narrow low reef system which provides a very limited habitat for marine life. So to increase the fish population and to provide havens for marine life and coral growth a large number of structures have been sunk or built in the region resulting in fantastic dive sites with over 112 dive sites and around 40 freighters, tugboats and barges between 60-200 feet of water.

However the history of building the Osborne Reef, has been plagued by a series of ups and downs and has been both praised and criticized by environmentalists since the 70’s.

In 1972 a company called BARINC or Boward Artificial Reef Inc which had successfully created artificial reefs in several countries  with the support of the US Army Corps of Engineers, deposited over two million tires bound by steel clips over 36 acres of the ocean floor at a depth of 65 feet underwater.

The project was a disaster, very little marine life migrated to the artificial reef, and those that did, didn’t stay long. The steel clips and nylon ropes that bound together the tires failed over time resulting in the tires drifting away with the slightest of swells and getting washed up on the beach or dragged away into the ocean. The two million tires floating around was an environmental disaster. They would smash into existing coral, litter beaches, and environmentalists were concerned that the tires were toxic causing more harm than good. Hurricanes would deposit tires as far away as North Carolina beaches resulting in severe concerns.

In 2001  and 2002 attempts were made to begin the long an arduous process of tire removal and retrieval which resulted in several millions being spent  and not much success. In 2007 the US Military took up the project to remove the rouge tires and used the opportunity to train recovery divers in the process thereby reducing the estimated cost of $30 million down to $2 million for the project. Divers extract about 1,000 tires from Osborne Reef each day and are expected to continue doing so for the next three to five years. Their goal is to remove about 700,000 of the two-million tires from the reef.

photos by: sniffette, tiswango

As reported by the Sun Sentinel 20^th June 2009,” A proposal to install an electrified artificial reef on the ocean floor off Lauderdale-by-the-Sea has won approval from a key federal agency, making it more likely the high-tech conservation project will get built.

The Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit to the town to work with Global Coral Reef Alliance, of Cambridge, Mass., to install a cluster of metal structures that would use a low-voltage current to stimulate the growth of corals, creating habitat for fish and other marine creatures. The group has used the patented Biorock process to construct artificial reefs in several other countries, including Mexico, Jamaica and Indonesia.”

The electrified reef project will consist of assembling hut like metal structures, to which pieces of living coral would be attached to them. Buoys fitted with solar panels would provide electricity to the structures and draw dissolved minerals from the sea water causing the corals to grow almost five times faster. The contract is estimated to be worth $65,000, but  it is still unclear when the project will commence building.

Photos: Sun Sentinel , Biorock Technology

After a decade of planning and an $8.6 million, the General Hoyt S. Vandenberg was finally sunk on May 27 and is now a public dive site. The Vandenberg is on it’s way to becoming the second largest internationally sunk artificial reef in the world.

Built as transport for US Army troops the USS General Harry Taylor was later renamed USAFS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg in 1963 after it was transferred to the US Navy. She was converted to a Missile Range Instrumentation Ship used to track missiles and space flights and finally decommissioned in 1983 after a good long run. The ship was transferred to the Maritime Administration in 99 and got approval to be sunk to create an artificial reef in Key West in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Sunk recently on the 27th of May this 524-foot-long ship now lies at 140 feet, just 7 miles south of Key West. With the top most part of the Ship at 40 feet the wreck will be accessible to all kinds of divers. Minutes after the 44 explosive charges went off sending this beauty to it’s final resting place a pod of dolphins, barracudas and a turtle checked out the new arrival, a sign of a promising future reef and a divers delight for many years to come.

So if you haven’t yet got a glimpse of this brand new artificial reef here’s a look at the scuttling of the General Hoyt S. Vandenberg little over a month back-

* Photo (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)