Wave barrier resists Hurricane winds.

• Author: Foster, Sharon
• Position: Tech talk - Brief Article

A floating barrier engineered to protect shorelines from beach erosion passed a tough test last summer, when Hurricane Isabel slammed into Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, Va.

The WhisprWave Marine Small Craft Intrusion Barrier suffered no damage, despite sustained winds of 80 mph with gusts up to 100 mph, said Dennis Smith, chief executive officer of Wave Dispersion Technologies, of Summit, N.J.

The WhisprWave, originally installed at Little Creek in 2002, is a patented modular floating breakwater technology, which also was designed as a security device, to keep small civilian boats away...