Performing site investigations and designing a renewed seawall and promenade against rising sea levels

Gloucester Reserve Seawall Design

For people living on the coast, there’s always evidence of the sea’s relentlessness—beaches changing shape, damaged boards in piers, and cracks in the seawalls. In the City of Hobsons Bay, the seawall was in poor condition and wasn’t high enough to deal with impending sea level rise. The City Council engaged us to complete a design for the renewal of the Gloucester Reserve seawall and promenade on the Williamstown.

To begin, we completed site investigations including drilling boreholes, plate load tests, laboratory California Bearing Ratio (CBR) testing, soil contamination testing, and a features survey. Outputs from the site investigations informed a slope stability assessment of the proposed concept design for the pavement and seawall. We designed a rock armor seawall robust enough to protect Gloucester Reserve while maintaining its attractiveness to the local community. Following the completion of the concept design phase, we prepared all necessary documentation to enable tender and construction, including a drawing set, technical specification, and schedule of quantities.

This fortified seawall and promenade will help protect the community reserve against rising sea levels now and into the future.