What started with the toss of bones in African child's play culminated in one of the world's most successful coastal engineering inventions. Dolosse – unusual shaped branching concrete blocks weighing up to 30 tons - are used across the globe to break up wave action. They were the invention of East London harbour engineer Eric Merrifield after a storm ripped into the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa in 1963 and tore off 60% of East London harbour's armour.