Charleville Levee Bank Structure

Project was undertaken for Sudholz Engineering, Goondiwindi.

The Charleville Shire Council (CSC) required a levee bank around the town of Charleville as part of the flood mitigation plan. The levee was to provide 100 year ammunity for an AEP of 1% event.  

The design of the CSC Levee wall involved:

1. Civil design of screw pile footings to support the retaining wall. Design of Screw Pile to UC Wall supports bracket for easy assembly of the wall and sufficient strength capacity.
2. Design of precast wall panels and seal mechanism to seal of walls under water pressure.
3. Design of road entry level wall unit that can be erected and removed as required.
4. Preparation of construction methodology.

Sean Edwards, as part of Sudholz Engineering, was responsible for the design and documentation of the levee bank and the establishment of civil construction plans, which involved construction setout and audit of earthwork volumes, as well and design details of the precast vertical levee wall.

The design was modelled and documented using engineering software and hand calculations for the levee structure; Autodesk ACAD used for all documentation.

The engineering design and construction methodology posed a number of challenges:

1. Minimisation of earthworks to meet budget requirements.
2. Design and construction of the 3 to 4m high vertical levee wall on a short width footprint. To minimise infringement on residential allotments fronting the alignment of the levee wall.
3. Design and development of a levee wall across the highway, that would enable quick assembly in the event of floods. That could be opened within short space of time.
4. Developing a suitable design to meet the geotechnical challenges that the soil strata caused along the alignment.

Engineering design and project management was completed on time and within budget.

1 year after the installation of the levee wall, a flood hit Charleville which exceeded the design height by over 0.5m. The wall maintained integrity and provided a seal against the flood induction saving hundred of homes.