In 2025, Miami Beach sank 22 concrete cars into 20 feet of water; The surreal jam was built to house 2,200 corals and marine life.

In 2025, Miami Beach launched one of the most ambitious underwater art and conservation projects in the world. According to a Miami Herald report, the city sank 22 concrete cars 20 feet below the ocean’s surface, creating a surreal traffic jam designed to house 2,200 corals and marine life. The installation, part of the REEFLINE project, was conceived as a unique combination of art, tourism and climate resilience. Sculptures by individual artists were intended to attract divers, provide habitat for fish, host coral restoration efforts, and help protect the city’s beach from storm surges. Now, about a year later, the project is a testament to the power of creative thinking in the face of environmental challenges.A symbol of transformationThe cars, which stand in 20 feet of water in a line to represent the traffic jams that are all too routine in South Florida, allude to both our car-centric culture and the risks of climate change, said Ximena Caminos, founder and artistic director of REEFLINE. “To me it is a symbol of transportation to transformation… Transportation has created such damage to the environment, and this is to transform it, or use it, if you will, as a vehicle for transformation and regeneration, and transform that symbol into something that is actually a platform for corals, for marine life, to thrive,” Caminos said, according to the report.The underwater traffic jam, designed by artist Leandro Erlich, also has a modern “Atlantis” feel, he said. That would be the mythical city lost at sea eons ago. The concrete cars were designed to become homes for thousands of soft corals. Their hoods are covered with special plugs into which 2,200 corals grown at the Miami Native Coral Lab in Allapattah were screwed. Corals come in shades of purple, green and yellow, some with branching arms and others that look like delicate feathers.A playground for scienceRescue a Reef scientists also planned to test their coral species on cars. “We want this to be a playground for scientists to come and test their corals,” Caminos said, according to the report. The installation site, between 4th and 5th streets in Miami Beach, is a sandy stretch that once housed a thriving reef. It was buried by sand years ago due to dredging, and the project aims to restore what was lost.Miami Beach is a barrier island and healthy coral reefs act as natural defenses by breaking waves, helping to reduce shoreline erosion. The concrete cars were tested in the University of Miami’s wave and wind storm tank and are built to withstand extreme weather and ocean conditions, Caminos said. “The REEFLINE facility is more than an amazing fusion of art and science; it is a critical long-term economic safeguard for Miami Beach,” Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner said in a news release.A complex deploymentPlacing the cars underwater was not an easy task. They are incredibly heavy, so the process required time and precision. First, in the days leading up to it, divers laid out and marked exact GPS points on the ocean floor, creating a perfect grid for the underwater jam. The sculptures were loaded onto a 160-foot construction barge called Charli’s Angel, which was equipped with a massive crane. The crane carefully lowered each car into the water, where commercial divers guided and adjusted the location once they were close to the seafloor.Only one car was deployed on the first day due to rough seas; It took about an hour to put it up. After that, the team had to call it a day. According to construction manager John Kearns in the report, the ocean waves became too challenging, moving the barge too much for the crane to operate safely. “A six-inch displacement at the surface means about three feet of movement underwater,” Kearns said. The crew tried to get more the next day. After placing a car, it could take up to 24 hours for the entire substrate to set, so it took a week or more before the entire installation was ready for visitors.A unique experienceIt’s also not a swim for beginners, as the sculptures are located nearly 800 feet from the beach and beyond the line of buoys that keep boats away. So carrying a floating diving flag is essential. The project had financing of 5 million dollars from Miami Beach. REEFLINE was trying to raise $40 million more to build the rest of the sculptures. Future designs include sculptures inspired by starfish and the heart of a blue whale.