Victorian coastline deal for AW Maritime

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) is engaging AW Maritime to undertake a comprehensive condition inspection of coastal protection structures located on coastal Crown land along the Victorian coastline.

AW Maritime’s coastal engineers assessed and recorded the overall condition and visible defects on 1,517 seawalls, revetments, groynes and breakwaters, including 78 structures which had not been previously recorded. 

Damage recorded include missing materials such as planks missing from timber groynes and masonry rocks displaced from seawalls while defects including cracking, together with rot, decay and rust, were also prevalent in ageing structures.

As part of the Coastal Asset Condition Inspection Program, AW Maritime also collected Australia Height Datum (AHD) height surveys at 7,295 locations atop coastal protection structures adjacent to many communities along the Victorian coastline. 

The site survey data was collected with the assistance of Gertzel Engineering Surveyors whom were engaged by AW Maritime for all the site surveys.

This data will provide a benchmark for any future structural movement as well as a framework for future overtopping estimates. Overtopping is one of many important characteristics determining the ultimate lifecycle of coastal protection assets before refurbishment, replacement or retreat becomes inevitable under the constant pressures of erosion, storms and sea level rise. 

The condition reports and Australia Height Datum will be used by DELWP as part of their coastal works program.