Independent Hydrological Advice to Road Projects
Client
Roads and Maritime Services
Providing hydrological advice and community consultation for highway upgrades.
Background
The NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) is currently upgrading large sections of highway and motorways within NSW. These major roads are vital to connect our communities but also for the transport of produce and safe egress from flood waters. In flood emergencies these routes can be cut off leaving communities isolated from vital services. As part of these upgrades, RMS aims to increase the flood immunity of these major transport corridors and also to provide appropriate waterway areas so there is minimal impacts on flood behaviour.
Solution
WMAwater has provided independent hydrological advice on a range of highway upgrade projects. Current projects include:
- Warrell Creek to Nambucca Heads
- Nambucca Heads to Urunga
- Woolgoolga to Ballina
- M1 to Raymond Terrace
- Foxground to Berry
- New M5
- Kempsey Bypass
- Frederickton to Eungai
We provide our clients with practical advice and solutions. Our work often involves the review of technical work by other parties. Our aim in these reviews is to highlight issues that are critical to the design and that may be of concern to residents. We have also negotiated mitigation measures on behalf of RMS. We design mitigation measures that are cost effective and practical given the landholders use of the land.
A key part of the role is to explain complex hydraulic results in everyday language. We communicate flood impacts to the community at either one-on-one meetings or at flood focus group meetings. Our use of clear concise language means we can communicate flood impacts to a wide range of stakeholders and community members and have the ability to answer complex questions from the community. This is crucial as our reports are published on the RMS website.
Outcomes
Through practical advice we help Roads and Maritime Services and the construction teams deliver roads that are appropriately designed using the latest modelling techniques and technical guidance. By doing this the projects meet the conditions of approvals in terms of flood impacts, and community expectations.