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Rock seawall design and construction with deeper toes for climate change

Conference Paper · June 2017

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Coasts & Ports 2017 Conference – Cairns, 21-23 June 2017
Rock seawall design and construction with deeper toes for climate change
Martin G Mulcahy, Leslie A Jackson, Bobbie B Corbett

Rock seawall design and construction with deeper toes for climate
change
Martin G Mulcahy1 and Leslie A Jackson1, Bobbie B Corbett1
1 International Coastal Management, QLD, Australia; m.mulcahy@coastalmanagement.com.au

Abstract
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 failure if not specified deep
enough for the structure’s anticipated exposure to erosion events. The toe depth can be a major factor in the
constructability and project cost as toes deeper than about MSL (about 0.0m AHD) are generally below the
water table and the excavation is unstable and subsequently more expensive.

Structural alternatives to deeper toes include horizontally wider toes, however given that many locations with
boulder seawalls have high beach usage, wider toes impact negatively on beach access and amenity. Another
alternative to deeper toes includes a holistic approach, considering other coastal management practices such
as beach nourishment and shoreline protection and retreat.

Historically, adaptation and deeper toes have been achieved in some locations through progressive slumping
of the toe during storms and subsequent post-storm maintenance of the upper wall – but with urbanisation
there is an increasing need to consider whole of life costs, future difficulty of transporting rock and accessing
the structure during flood / surge / erosion events.

We use the Gold Coast as an example as there is considerable practical experience with design, construction,
condition surveys and maintenance on the Gold Coast where the toe level of the standard wall is specified as
0.0m AHD and this has proven to be easily and economically constructed since the 1970’s. Whilst this toe
depth has proven to be structurally adequate to date under the present climate conditions – it has been assisted
in areas by the local coastal management practices such as: sand bypassing, sand nourishment, groynes and
an artificial reef.

Keywords: climate change, seawall, erosion, construction, Gold Coast

1. Introduction find stability once again, and if this hasn’t resulted

There are many elements that are involved in the in exposure of smaller secondary rocks (which are
design of an optimised, robust and site-specific rock not designed to be as stable as the primary armour)
seawall. Rock seawalls can fail due to a number of and lowering of the crest below a critical height, the
processes including: seawall will often remain fully functional.

• Toe scour In this paper we use the Gold Coast as an example

• Displacement of primary armour
• Piping through the wall
• Overtopping
The first three eventually lead to the fourth,
overtopping.
This paper only discusses the toe detail for rock
seawalls. Toe scour does not necessarily lead to
failure as rock seawalls are flexible structures by
nature and can accommodate some toe scour,
particularly if they are well maintained. In service,
the rocks can move and this allows the seawall to
avoid catastrophic failure if only part of the seawall
becomes “damaged”. When rocks move and they
are displaced within the seawall they will eventually
as there is considerable practical experience with
design, construction, condition surveys and
maintenance on the Gold Coast over the last 50
years (Jackson 2017). The strategy adopted on the
Gold Coast has included the construction of
terminal seawalls along the 1967 and 72 erosion
scarps to protect private and public beachfront
assets in severe events. The toe level of the
standard Gold Coast terminal seawall where the
toe level of the standard wall is specified as 0.0m
AHD and this has proven to be easily and
economically constructed since the 1970’s. These
walls are now generally covered by dunes but
climate change will make them more vulnerable to
exposure to wave forces and toe scour (Tomlinson
2014). After wave attack, maintenance including
Coasts & Ports 2017 Conference – Cairns, 21-23 June 2017
Rock seawall design and construction with deeper toes for climate change
Martin G Mulcahy, Leslie A Jackson, Bobbie B Corbett

topping up of the crest and face armour is
undertaken.
Given that seawalls are often constructed on a
sandy base, the ability to be “flexible” is very
immediately adjacent to the toe of the seawall. This
scour hole leaves the seawall vulnerable to
undermining failure if the toe detail does not have
the capacity to accommodate this increased erosion
(Figure 1).

Figure 1 Shape of scour hole near toe of seawall (Figure 45 from Steetzel, 1988)
important. It is likely that during the life of a rock
seawall, it will experience some degree of
settlement either due to settlement of sandy
foundation (due to the increased bearing load of the
seawall), the movement of rocks within the structure
itself (due to hydraulic instability), or due to
liquefaction (rocks sinking into the sand base due to
increased pore water pressures reducing the
bearing capacity of the sandy base of the seawall
during wave attack). This settlement can often occur
without much, or any, loss of performance of the
seawall. When settlement is too great (such as if a
seawall is undermined due to erosion) this will soon
lead to a reduced crest height and leave the seawall
prone to overtopping, which ultimately leads to
functional failure of the seawall.
The scour hole is formed due to erosion but often
induced by currents running alongshore to the
seawall exacerbating the erosion depth. Local scour
holes at the toe of seawalls have been previously
observed at locations along the Gold Coast seawall
during storm conditions (Figure 2), although they
typically infill rapidly during post-storm conditions.
Determination of scour depth is important but the
beach system is very 3 dimensional and scour
levels are difficult to accurately predict with
presently available models and methods.

To avoid undermining failure, the key is to prevent

erosion from extending below the toe of the seawall
to a level that cannot be accommodated by the wall.

2. Methods

2.1 Determination of Erosion Depth

The design depth of erosion is calculated by
assessing both the long term and short term erosion
vulnerabilities of the specific site. Methods of Figure 2: Toe scour at North Kirra in 1985.
assessment generally include photogrammetry,
empirical methods and numerical modelling (Carley,
2015). 2.2 Influence of Climate Change
Climate change has an impact on storm frequency,
A large storm event would be expected to result in which, if a beach has not recovered fully from
storm cut and the formation of a local scour hole previous design events, may result in the design
Coasts & Ports 2017 Conference – Cairns, 21-23 June 2017
Rock seawall design and construction with deeper toes for climate change
Martin G Mulcahy, Leslie A Jackson, Bobbie B Corbett
being more vulnerable to subsequent storms. If the
beach is not fully recovered, a smaller storm could
result in potentially undermining damage to the
seawall.
Climate change can also effect seawall vulnerability
directly through:
• Sea level rise
• Increased storm surge
• Increased wave height
• Uncertain geomorphological influences due
to a changing climate.
Climate change and sea levels cannot be predicted
with a high level of accuracy over the design life of
a seawall structure. This adds another level of
uncertainty to determination of scour depths for
design.
2.3 Toe Depth Design
“Experience and engineering judgement play an
important role in selecting appropriate toe details
and applying the design rules presented, which are
themselves largely based upon experience rather
than systematic testing” (Rock Manual, 2007).
There are two standard design options when
determining toe designs.
I) Design to a level deeper than maximum
erosion level (Figure 3)
II) Design a “flexible” toe that can self-
deepen during erosion (Figure 4)
Figure 3: Deeper toe detail (I) (CIRIA, 2007)
Figure 4: Flexible toe detail (II) (CIRIA, 2007)
When constructed on the beachfront, deeper toe
details often result in construction difficulties when
the depth extends below the water table.
Flexible toe details are easier to construct and work
well in some applications (ports and harbours);
however, when applied to a sandy beach that has
high public usage, the width and height of the
flexible toe can cause a significant obstruction on
the beach that reduces visual and recreational
amenity, public accessibility and can cause safety
issues.
These standard designs should be used as a
starting point, but site-specific project objectives
should drive the design and consideration should be
given to:
• constructability
• cost (upfront and lifecycle)
• performance
• usability
• safety
It is during this process that holistic methods should
be considered, and if the site-specific project
objectives could be better achieved by methods
such as:
• Artificial reefs & groynes
• Beach nourishment
• Coastal retreat
• Acceptable risk/ increased maintenance
3. Discussion
3.1 General
Deeper toe depths are often below the water table
and this presents challenges for construction, which
must be managed with practical methodologies.
These methodologies often come with an increase
in cost and time; however ultimately would be
simpler, more practical and more cost-effective than
undertaking a major re-build during a storm event
when rock supply and delivery could be problematic
Coasts & Ports 2017 Conference – Cairns, 21-23 June 2017
Rock seawall design and construction with deeper toes for climate change
Martin G Mulcahy, Leslie A Jackson, Bobbie B Corbett

and accessibility to the site is likely limited by a piling, limited infilling of sand prior to placement of
narrow foreshore. armour rock and rapidly stabilising the batter.

In high value beach areas such as the Gold Coast,
approval of large flexible toe details is unlikely on
high usage public foreshores. As such, in many
cases, the construction of a deeper toe is required
to address potential for scour while minimising
impacts on public use and access. Alternatives to
deeper toes should be considered. Alternatives
suitable for Gold Coast conditions include beach
nourishment, submerged reef breakwaters and
groynes.
Sheet piling was investigated as a method to assist
with dewatering, however, due to existing boulders
from existing seawall present within the excavation
footprint, however in this location with the old rubble
layers it was not practical to drive sheets. It is noted,
however, that this methodology has been
successfully undertaken at other sites.

3.2 Narrowneck seawall (case study)

Narrowneck seawall at Main Beach on the Gold
Coast was highlighted for investigation and
subsequent reconstruction to present day standards
as part of the Gold Coast Shoreline Management
Plan.

The wall is protected by Narrowneck reef but in light

of uncertainty, a design erosion depth of -1.5m AHD
was determined by analysing 40 years of survey
data and undertaking numerical modelling and
assessment with a calibrated SBEACH model Figure 6: Narrowneck site, batter cut and dewatering in
(Figure 5). progress for toe excavation.

Figure 5: SBEACH model for storm cut

Figure 7: Geotextile placement after dewatered toe.

The water table at the site was found to be approx.
+0.5m AHD and this influenced the excavation
techniques used to achieve the batter cut and the
excavation depth.

Dewatering pumps were utilised to achieve a

relatively dry toe prior to placement of the geotextile
filter (Figure 6 & Figure 7). The batter was relatively
steep (1v:1.5h) and was stable above water table,
with frequent micro-slips occurring below the water
table (Figure 8). The micro-slips were managed by
ensuring geotextile length was sufficient over the
top, and surplus secondary armour filled the void.
Narrow lengths (5-10m) of the toe were excavated
and dewatered at a time, so pumps could achieve
adequate draw down without the need for sheet
 Coasts & Ports 2017 Conference – Cairns, 21-23 June 2017
Rock seawall design and construction with deeper toes for climate change
Martin G Mulcahy, Leslie A Jackson, Bobbie B Corbett

Practicalities around excavation below the water

table are difficult but achievable; although time and
cost are necessarily increased. By constructing the
toe to a suitable depth toe scour can be
accommodated and in the long-term it can be the
difference between a functional seawall and a
failed seawall during a major storm event (or series
of events).

Just adding a deeper rock toe to a rock seawall

may not the best solution, holistically and
alternatives management strategies to mitigate
impacts of climate change and to protect the beach
and thus the wall should be considered.

Figure 8: Microslips occurring at base of batter cut below
water table
3.3 Observations
Toe design is important to the future integrity of
seawalls, but text book designs are often overly
simplistic and do not take into account site-specific
project objectives.
The design depths need to accommodate
significant uncertainty and this can lead to
overdesign and unnecessary cost and impacts on
the beach amenity. The best solution may be an
integrated solution that reduces the impacts of
climate change on the wall by protecting the beach
to seaward of the wall
This has the advantage of protecting the beach itself
and the wall remains as a terminal structure to
protect private and public assets during erosion
events. Alternatives suitable for Gold Coast
conditions include beach nourishment, submerged
reef breakwaters and groynes (Jackson 2013,
Jackson 2015). Design and implementation of
seawalls and such structures needs good
understanding of the local coastal processes
(Tomlinson 2016).
5. References
[1] Carley, J. (2015). Establishing the Design Scour Level
for Seawalls
[2] CIRIA, CUR, CETMEF (2007). “The Use of Rock in
Hydraulic Engineering” 2nd Edition
[3] Jackson L A, Hill P (2013): History of the
Implementation and Evolution of Sand Nourishment
Methods on the Gold Coast.
[4] Tomlinson R, Jackson L A, Hunt S (2016): Creating
and Maintaining a Coastal Management Knowledge Hub.
[5] Tomlinson R, Mulcahy M, Jackson L A, Todd D,
Corbett B, McGrath J, Hunt S (2014): Design Review Of
The Gold Coast Seawall For Climate Change
[6] Salyer A, Jackson L A, Corbett B, Jackson L (2016):
Coastal Stabilisation – Advancements in Geotextile
Design & Construction Methods as An Alternative to
Rock.
[7] Steetzel, H. (1988). Scour holes - analyses of the
factors that determine the shape of a the scour hole based
on available literature of physical model tests (in Dutch).
Technical report, Delft Hydraulics.

In the future, alternate materials to rock may

become more common as suitable rock becomes
scarcer and more difficult to import to beachfront
sites (Salyer 2016).

4. Summary
With the influence of climate change, and potential
long term erosion, many existing seawalls are
becoming increasingly vulnerable, in many cases
requiring review and adaptation. Many newly
designed seawalls are being designed with deeper
toes.

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