Upgrade to reduce inundation threat for Bunbury

Improvements to supporting rock protection structures for Bunbury’s storm surge barrier will significantly reduce the risk of future inundation in low lying parts of the city.

Manager of the barrier, the Department of Transport (DoT) will work with the City of Bunbury to refurbish the rock protection structures supporting the effective operations of the barrier after Commonwealth funding of more than $3.7 million was allocated from its Disaster Ready Fund last week. 

DoT worked closely with the City to secure the funding and will continue to provide technical support for the project which has a total value of more than $8.3 million with additional State Government funding of $2.8 million and $1.12 million from the City of Bunbury, plus in-kind contributions.

The storm surge barrier was implemented in 1980 following the flooding of low-lying areas in the eastern part of the City after Cyclone Alby in 1978. 

Bunbury was recently listed in the top three locations at high risk of coastal inundation in a DoT commissioned report that looked at the potential scale and extent of coastal inundation in the short to medium term across 45 WA coastal local government areas. Busselton and Carnarvon were also listed as sites with extreme susceptibility for coastal inundation.
 
DoT Maritime Planning Director Colleen Thompson said DoT was successfully partnering with local coastal managers to better manage inundation hazards and reduce the risk of damage to infrastructure and costly impacts causing major disruption to communities. 

“The report gives us a better understanding of the threat of coastal inundation and will help prioritise work by local managers,” Ms Thompson said. 

The report A Statewide Coastal Inundation Assessment for WA by Seashore Engineering, identifies 23 specific at risk locations and found that targeted work could alleviate the threat of inundation at more than half (13) of those locations.

For more details about coastal inundation and to view the report visit our Coastal studies page.

Media contact: media@transport.wa.gov.au