Old Power Poles Repurposed as Artificial Reefs

Repurposing a bunch of hefty power line poles yielded a project intended to attract plenty of interest.

Various species of fish likely are interested, as are scuba divers and anglers.

Officials in St. Lucie County, Florida used power poles as the prime source of material for two artificial reefs about six and 12 miles off of Fort Pierce.

The poles are stacked in two free-form piles about 25 feet tall at depths of about 60 and 100 feet in the ocean and are among the newest additions to a total of about 2,900 artificial reefs in the Florida area.

Florida Power and Light provided 130 poles that were replaced during recent upgrade projects. If not recycled this way, the poles might have otherwise been trashed, a spokesman said.

Some of the other reefs in St. Lucie County are formed with a mix of allowable materials, including bridge and dock pilings, said Jim Oppenborn, St. Lucie County’s Coastal Resource Supervisor.

In addition to the poles supplied by Florida Power and Light, a grant of about $60,000 went into the project for the two reefs. The money, distributed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, is from a pot of federal tax revenue from specific fishing-related and boating-related purchases.