
Bobbie B. CorbettGriffith University; International Coastal Management · Griffith Center for Coastal Management
Bobbie B. Corbett
BE (Hons), BBusMan
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53
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Publications (53)
Coastlines globally are faced with a range of pressures, including increased human activity, urbanisation, environmental loss and pollution. These pressures are only expected to increase in time with climate change impacts such as sea level rise, coastal inundation, intensified storm conditions, environmental uncertainty and continued growth and de...
Faced with the escalating challenges posed by climate change, such as rising sea levels, intensified storm events, and environmental unpredictability, the field of
coastal engineering has been shifting towards developing solutions that promote and preserve environmental resilience and sustainability (Morris, Boxshall and Swearer, 2020). These solut...
Coastal zone managers are increasingly searching for beach protection solutions that provide multiple benefits. Artificial headlands are a viable multi-functional coastal protection solution that offer many advantages over traditional structures. Such complex structures require considered design by coastal engineering experts. This technical note i...
Coastal cliff erosion and retreat is a common problem worldwide. Long-term erosion due to natural coastal processes have caused the iconic vibrant red cliffs of the Redcliffe peninsular (Scarborough, Queensland, Australia), to retreat landwards, which posed a potential risk to public safety and infrastructure. Investigations into coastal processes...
Shellfish reefs are an important component of healthy estuarine ecosystems. They create complex habitats, influence local hydrological and fluvial processes, filter large volumes of water, and enhance fish productivity. Prior to the early 1900s, shellfish reefs occurred extensively throughout Australia but have since been substantially degraded or...
Abstract
For almost 40 years nearshore nourishment has been a well proven technique for cost effective upper beach
protection and improvement. In suitable areas with large offshore sand reserves, it is also a good
tool for mitigating long term climate change impacts. The paper’s aim is to provide the theory
behind nearshore nourishment, identify...
The Narrowneck Artificial Reef was constructed by the City of Gold Coast in 1999-2000 as a key component of the Northern Gold Coast Beach Protection Strategy. While primarily intended to enhance coastal protection, its secondary objective was to improve surfing. It was constructed out of approximately 400 mega Geotextile Sand Containers using innov...
Severe storms along the East Coast of Australia have highlighted the vulnerability of coastal towns and cities to the threat of rapid erosion and an often inability to adequately respond. Responding to short-term erosion is often required to avoid catastrophic consequences, such as the loss of public and private assets, infrastructure and areas of...
Australia was an early adopter of sand filled geotextile/geosynthetics containers (SFGC) for coastal structures and has been a global leader in application and the R&D of the technology. Large engineered "sandbags" were a natural progression from the small sandbags used, and still used, very effectively despite their low mass, for emergency wave er...
Notes on geotextile characteristics for Sand Filled Geotextile Containers
Munna Point is a premiere recreational beach in the Noosa River which has been maintained by regular nourishment for over 20 years. As longevity of each nourishment was less than 6 months, the long-term costs were high and efforts were eventually suspended resulting in loss of the beach. In an effort to reinstate the amenity and provide a more stab...
Rock seawalls and groynes are common coastal structures, but these flexible type structures can be damaged. Monitoring of these structures, particularly after severe events, can enable repairs to be implemented economically before a major and costly failure occurs. The conventional method, until recently, has been topographic surveys based on total...
With the impacts of climate change expected to have a resounding impact on the Australian Coastline, the practicalities around the robustness of rock seawalls – in particular, undermining due to erosion events - must be strongly considered in the design process. The depth of the seawall toe is a key factor in the design and can result in seawall fa...
Effective management of complex and dynamic waterways is considerably improved by strategic data collection and the use of this data to enhance understanding. On the Gold Coast, the network of waterways is large and complex and the first stage of a strategic data collection program has been developed and implemented, involving the deployment of min...
INTRODUCTION
Globally, the use of rock in coastal design and construction projects has been common practice. This is largely due to the availability of material, relative cost and extensive research and development in rock design. Formulated equations, such as the ‘Hudson’ or ‘van Der Meer’ are used to produce standardized breakwaters, groynes, rev...
INTRODUCTION: There are many types of naturally occurring reefs worldwide from flat coral reefs, rough, rock shelf reefs to semi-emergent, rocky reefs. Their effect on the adjacent coastline also varies significantly and has evolved to suit the natural weather conditions. Their environmental value also varies.
Artificial reef design is a complex fi...
Munna Point is a premiere recreational beach in the Noosa River which has been maintained by regular nourishment for over 20 years. As longevity of each nourishment was less than 6 months, the long-term costs were high and efforts were eventually suspended resulting in loss of the beach.
In an effort to reinstate the amenity and provide a more sta...
This is a case study of a design and construct project of a submerged breakwater and terminal wall to provide a beach and sheltered swimming area for a new large 5 star beach resort in the UAE on an exposed section of the Arabian Gulf coastline. A rip rap submerged breakwater had been trialled but had not stabilised the previously nourished beach....
Well designed and located seawalls are robust structures which can protect valuable coastal assets. However, there is a common and over-simplistic perception that seawalls can increase erosion and destroy the beach. This may be true in some cases but is not always true as the location of the seawall and long term beach stability are critical in eva...
Aim
As climate change will increase the vulnerability of the Gold Coast beachfront assets due to increased sea levels and storminess, a
review of the present standard seawall designs and alignment was implemented by the City.
Methods
The standard seawall design and alignment were adopted by the City in the early 1970’s. The value of assets at risk...
The Noosa River Spit has been experiencing erosion for many years. In recent years, high erosion rates made low-lying and narrow sections of the Noosa River Spit very vulnerable to breaching, which presented a serious erosion risk to the development on Noosa Sound as well as significantly impacting on public amenity. A full option investigation has...
The Gold Coast is a popular coastal holiday destination but beaches and surf are now not enough to remain competitive in the Australian tourist market and the destination needs new and innovative attractions. There are already high quality dive sites – natural and artificial. Studies are being undertaken to identify and investigate opportunities to...
In response to the increasing occurrences of beach erosion along Surfers Paradise and Main Beaches - Gold Coast, Australia, the Northern Gold Coast Beach Protection Strategy [NGCBPS] was developed to widen the beach by 20-30m as well as improving surfing conditions as a secondary objective. The strategy, implemented in 1999- 2000, involved large-sc...
Low crested reef type breakwaters are becoming increasingly popular for coastal protection. As they are entirely offshore, there are no structures on the beach to impact the amenity and safety of the beach itself. They may also offer attractive marine habitat and recreational amenity benefits. Their effectiveness increases with wave height. Fully s...
Coastal structures should be designed to minimize the risks to beach users and avoid negative impacts on the marine
environment. Past experience with sand-filled geotextile containers in the marine environment (i.e. submerged) shows
that they provide a permeable substrate that supports a diverse range of marine growth which differs from that found...
In response to the increasing occurrences of beach erosion along Surfers Paradise and Main Beaches, the Northern Gold Coast Beach Protection Strategy [NGCBPS] was developed. The primary objective of this strategy was to widen the beach and dunes to provide an increased storm buffer. The second objective was to improve the surfing conditions at this...
Noosa Main Beach (Sunshine Coast, Australia) experienced large volumes of filamentous algae Hincksia sordid during the summer months for three consecutive years. Visually unappealing and producing an obnoxious odour, it has a significant negative impact on the local tourist-based economy. Traditional methods of dealing with the algae were unsuccess...
This paper summarises an investigation undertaken by the Water Research Laboratory and International Coastal Management into wave transmission for low crested geotextile breakwater structures. Structures such as these are being used as an alternative to rock structures or as interim coastal protection structures. These low crested (submerged) detac...
In response to the increasing occurrences of beach erosion along Surfers Paradise and Main Beaches, the Northern Gold Coast Beach Protection Strategy [NGCBPS] was developed to widen the beach and improve surfing conditions. The strategy involved large-scale beach nourishment and construction of Narrowneck reef. In general the strategy has met its o...
It is important that management of the coastline in developing areas, particularly rapidly developing areas as the Arabian Gulf, is sustainable, eco-friendly and preserves the coastal amenity. Ideally, structures should be multi-functional and designed to provide amenity and to be safe for users. This paper outlines how multifunctional artificial r...
The Narrowneck Artificial Reef is a large submerged structure constructed in 1999-2000 as a key component of the Northern Gold Coast Beach Protection Strategy (NGCBPS) implemented by Gold Coast City Council (GCCC). While primarily a coastal protection structure, its secondary objective was to improve surfing. Since its construction, comprehensive m...
Costs, benefits and performance of existing surfing and multi-functional artificial reefs have varied considerably. This paper compares details of the 6 reefs completed or under construction to determine the total costs and performance as well as construction issues. The investigation was undertaken as part of the design and construct contract for...
The Narrowneck Artificial Reef is a large submerged structure constructed in 1999-2000 as a key component of the Northern Gold Coast Beach Protection Strategy (NGCBPS) implemented by Gold Coast City Council (GCCC). While primarily a coastal protection structure, its secondary objective was to improve surfing. Since its construction, comprehensive m...
There are increasing numbers of large private vessels worldwide and the trend is extending into Australian waters. To cope with demands, the Southport Yacht Club (SYC) is presently expanding the existing marina by an additional 37 berths, all over 16m and including 5 berths for “superyachts” and 1 for a “megayacht”. These larger vessels have widely...
Sand filled bags are becoming increasing popular for coastal structures but there are no definitive guidelines. There are several failure modes and these have been identified fro monitoring of full scale structures and from flume testing. This paper presents this work on failure modes and stability.
With increasing scarcity and cost of suitable rock in areas such as the Arabian Gulf, sand filled geosynthetic (SFG) structures are increasingly being used as an alternative to rock and concrete. Even in areas where suitable rock is readily available at reasonable cost, safety and environmental benefits are encouraging use of SFG structures.
Coast...
Submerged artificial reef breakwaters in the nearshore coastal zone can create the potential for a range of recreational activities as well as beach protection. As such, safety is an important issue when considering the design and construction of these types of structures. Investigations have been carried out for the proposed Palm Beach reefs and t...
The Narrowneck Artificial Reef [Gold Coast, Australia] was constructed in 1999/2000 out of large sand-filled geotextile containers. It quickly became evident that the containers provided an excellent substrate for marine flora and the development of a diverse ecosystem. As a result, the reef has become popular with locals for fishing, diving, snork...
The Narrowneck Artificial Reef is a key part of the Northern Gold Coast Beach Protection Strategy developed for the Gold Coast City Council by International Coastal Management (ICM). It was constructed by McQuade Marine between August 1999 and December 2000. The structure is made up of 410 large sand-filled geotextile containers designed, manufactu...
Despite ongoing nourishment and groyne construction over 3 decades, the central section of Palm Beach is still very vulnerable to storm erosion. Palm Beach is in the central area of Gold Coast City and despite narrow beaches, these beaches and surf attract a large number of users and supports 3 surf clubs. The Palm Beach Beach Protection Strategy (...
The use of geotextile containers filled onsite with sand (or other sediments) as key components in civil engineering projects is increasing, however design is difficult as few detailed studies of their behaviour have been documented. As rock becomes increasingly more difficult to obtain and expensive, there will be increased demand for reliable des...
Submerged breakwaters constructed of large geotextile sand containers are becoming a more common method of controlling and managing coastlines worldwide. As a relatively new approach, many facets of their behaviour, including their response to wave-induced pressures, have not been fully investigated. While several failure modes have been identified...
The Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Project (TRESBP) was aimed at establishing and maintaining a clear navigation channel and restoring the beaches north of the entrance. While the permanent bypassing jetty was being designed, constructed and commissioned, these objectives were met by dredging only. The Tweed River Entrance is in an area with h...
Costs, benefits and performance of existing surfing and multi-functional artificial reefs have varied considerably. This paper compares details of the 6 reefs completed or under construction to determine the total costs and performance as well as construction issues. The investigation was undertaken as part of the design and construct contract for...