CLIENT
Caravan Park Owners
LOCATION
Palmers Island, NSW
OUR INVOLVEMENT

Geotechnical walkover assessment and investigation including:

  • Deep Cone Penetrometer Testing (CPT’s)
  • Hand auger boreholes
  • Monitoring wells
  • Groundwater data logger installations
  • Groundwater monitoring.

Project challenges

The riverbank frontage up and down stream of the caravan park has a history of active erosion and instability, with historical records dating back to the late 19th century. Current planning controls impacted on the caravan park’s proposed reconfiguration and JK Geotechnics, in collaboration with the coastal engineers (Royal HaskoningDHV), were tasked with presenting a report to Council which supported the reconfiguration without compromising the safety of the park’s users. A fundamental understanding of the behaviour of the river bank and river bed during and following flood events was essential in developing the geotechnical model to be used in our analyses.

Our solutions

JK Geotechnics (JKG), in collaboration with the coastal engineers (Royal HaskoningDHV),  reviewed the historical data, recent hydrographic data, groundwater monitoring data and flood records.  JKG then completed stability analyses of the current river-bank profiles following flood events, which included scour erosion of the river bed. We concluded that acceptable factors of safety were achievable following flood events and developed a riverbank risk-management plan in conjunction with Royal HaskoningDHV. The proposed alterations and additions and riverbank risk-management plan were approved by Council.