Artificial Reefs for Coastal Protection and Amenity
The Bluecoast team have a wealth of knowledge in the design of coastal structures along Australian and Pacific coastlines, and a unique expertise and passion for the design of artificial reefs. A nearshore artificial reef is an innovative approach to enhance foreshore resilience against storm erosion, provide recreational surf amenity and create marine habitat. The reefs need to be well engineered and buildable and need a suitable natural environment. Stable material sizing, appropriate toe levels incorporating scour levels, crest levels and lengths, ground conditions, user safety and site-specific construction methodologies are all key considerations for artificial reefs. A practical understanding of the engineering design and site requirements is essential during the design development stage and our experience with these structures and design tools developed on the back the world’s first successful multi-purpose artificial reef project (and the second being under development), lets us predict the desired surfing and coastal protection performance with confidence.
Our engineers formed the core consultancy team that assisted the City of Gold Coast to deliver the Palm Beach artificial reef over a 4-year design process.
Construction has only been completed in September 2019 but early indications are that the Palm Beach artificial reef is the first artificial reef structure to deliver both high-quality surf amenity and coastal protection outcomes as well as providing a marine habitat.
Our team was involved in the construction quality assurance services from tendering and contract preparation all the way to review of as-constructed information and certification. This project also involved the mass nourishment in 2017 which created exceptional sand bars for surfing at Palm Beach.
“we would like to thank you and the broader design team for the ongoing commitment to the project over the last several years. The team persevered through what was a lengthy, complex and challenging design phase to produce quality design deliverables… The service provided more recently during the construction of the artificial reef was exceptional, with a very thorough quality assurance and certification process implemented in a collaborative manner. The team went over and above to ensure that information was reviewed, and detailed feedback provided quickly, and this was a key contributor to a high quality structure being achieved ahead of schedule. It has been a long journey and we are very pleased to have achieved such a good outcome”
On the back of the Palm Beach artificial reef, we have now delivered the detailed design of the Albany artificial surfing reef over a 9-month process that included detailed site investigations, physical modelling, comprehensive numerical modelling of waves, currents and sand movements through to construction documentation.
Working closely with the City of Albany and the local community, our team has been involved in this project since 2015 from feasibility study, approvals process, business case, community consultation, funding application through to the completion of the detailed design in September 2020.
“..thank you all for your massive effort and immense body of work to get this over the line. The community members who spoke for the project held Bluecoast in high regard.”
“I would like to acknowledge the excellent work that the team have done in respect to this project, and also commend the City on their support for the project and their acknowledgement of surfing as a legitimate sporting activity in the region.”
