Managing bank erosion in a constrained urban environment (138405)
Adam AB Buller
1
- Water Technology, Ewingsdale, NSW, Australia
- Bank erosion in urban environments can pose a significant risk to infrastructure, private and public land and local ecology, with waterways typically having limited ‘room to move’ in these highly constrained environments. Toongabbie creek, a significant tributary to the Parramatta River had undergone bank erosion following successive weather events. Council requested a systematic (and repeatable) creekbank survey to identify existing erosion sites throughout the reach.
- A bank erosion survey was conducted on foot and supplemented with a video survey captured by drone to understand existing conditions at the site. The waterway was broken down into sub-reaches with each being assigned a ‘good’, ‘moderate’ or ‘poor’ based on existing condition. A risk assessment was undertaken on the low and moderate sub-reaches, by examining threats and their likelihood of occurrence, which was used to determine the priority sites for targeted intervention.
- This paper presents the learnings of this project, which ultimately resulted in the development and delivery of a repeatable creekbank survey to assist council in tracking bank erosion in a sensitive, urban environment.
- The interface between the waterway corridor and the urban environment is a sensitive area, typically with an inadequate buffer zone. Unchecked erosion can pose a significant risk. Providing council with a tool for monitoring and categorising bank erosion will improve their ability to manage, prioritise, and respond to risk.