Site Visit: Southern Metropolitan Coastal Stability

Lyn Sanders

In 2001, Golder Associates was engaged by the City of Onkaparinga to assess the risk of instability along its coastline, which runs for around 35 km from Sellicks Beach at its southern end to near the O’Sullivans Beach refinery at its northern. An inspection of the coast from a boat was used as well as the usual ground mapping. Viewing the coast from the boat provided a unique perspective on the landforms and greatly simplified the assessment and comparison of stability along different sections of the coastline.

The SA Chapter of the Australian Geomechanics Society retraced this coastal inspection, with Lyn Sanders, Golder’s project manager for the risk assessment, providing commentary on the work undertaken, and pointing out areas of interest.The AGS chartered the Temptation – a 55′ catamaran for the field trip, which proved to be a luxurious step up from the dusty buses of previous years. The boat cruise ran for approximately 4 hours from 3pm to 7pm.

Engineers Australia members participating in AGS technical sessions can record attendance on their personal CPD logs. Members should refer to Engineers Australia CPD policy for details on CPD types, requirements and auditing guidelines.