Scenic Highway, Statue Bay - Cyclone Marcia Reconstruction Project by Stuart Doak. Presented by Dan Toon.

Abstract

In February 2015, Severe Tropical Cyclone Marcia crossed the Queensland coast north of Yeppoon in Central Queensland, causing extensive damage to infrastructure and the community. The singularly most significant damage to infrastructure in the Shire was the undermining of the coastal Scenic Highway at Statue Bay and the concurrent failure of the steep cliff-face above. The reconstruction of the road and the cliff-face has been the most challenging infrastructure project ever undertaken by the Livingstone Shire Council, and has involved  the construction of a mechanically stabilised ocean protection wall;  reconstruction of the road; and  the stabilisation of the cliff-face with soil nails and shotcrete surfacing. The project was largely funded by the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) funding under the administration of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA). The major issues encountered and dealt with on the project were:  environmental approvals for construction in a coastal marine and tidal environment;  detailed geotechnical investigations and design for two adjacent but very different engineering problems;  the protrusion of the soil nails into private property, requiring the acquisition of volumetric easements, within very constrained timeframes;  the logistics and challenges of constructing the two separate components of the restoration works on a constrained site;  impractical deadlines imposed by NDRRA funding agreements;  the poor and variable geology below the wall foundations;  community expectations and displeasure at the diversion of significant volumes of traffic through residential areas;  dust and noise nuisance to adjacent residents from the drilling and construction processes; and  termination of the construction contract and completion of the works by Council, to ensure completion within NDRRA timeframes. This paper outlines the reconstruction of the Scenic Highway at Statue Bay after Cyclone Marcia, from the initial damage caused by the cyclone, through the approval processes and design of the restoration solution, to the construction of the approved scope of work; highlighting the challenges of managing a complex infrastructure project in conjunction with community expectations and NDRRA guidelines