The Lakefront surf park development in Chesterfield County got a green light from county supervisors to go ahead and break ground. The 105-acre property will feature a 13- acre lake for water-based activity and a large wave pool of undisclosed technology.

According to ABC News in Virginia community members voiced support for the 1000-plus unit development which will reside at 13400 Genito Road, and 2500, 2601 and 2991 Genito Place.

As to what technology will power the project’s central wave pool, that’s still a mystery. The Lake website lists American Wave Machine PerfectSwell technology, but industry insiders say it could be another technology like Endless Surf – both highly customizable pneumatic wave pools.

PerfectSwell uses a pneumatic system similar to Endless Surf, SurfLoch and others. While there are nuances to the systems that come through in the patents and are obvious to engineers, it’s basically air pushed into the water to create waves. The pneumatics are housed in caissons hidden in a central wall. Software controls the firing sequence of the chambers and the timing and force of the release air. The result is the creation of waves of many different types. At BSR in Waco Texas, PerfectSwell creates both lefts and rights, but only one at a time. Their smaller system in New Jersey at the American Dream Mall offers a split peak wave.

Endless Surf is another one of the major pneumatic systems on the market today. Surf is created when air is pushed through caissons (chambers) in sequence to produce a variety of wave shapes and sizes. The number of caissons at the deep end of their heart-shaped pool correlates with the wave system’s size. An Endless Surf 1800 has 18 pneumatic chambers and an Endless Surf 4800 has 48 caissons and measures 282m (925.2ft) x 84.5m (277.2ft). Wave heights will run at 2-3 ft on average but can go up to 7 feet as both lefts and rights. Length of a ride for the average Endless Surf pool is expected to be 30-60 yards/meters on but can go up to 200 meters in their maximum-sized pool. Regardless of size, the system has the capability to produce 500-1000 waves per hour.