Beadon Creek Training Wall Upgrade Works

Beadon Creek is a geographic feature of the town of Onslow, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, approximately 1,200 km north of Perth and 300 km south of Karratha. Located at Beadon Creek is the Onslow (Beadon Creek) Maritime Facility managed by DoT, which is today used by the resource industry, as well as recreational fishing and charter vessels.

The Beadon Creek training wall was constructed in 1968 by the Public Works Department of Western Australia (PWD), in order to maintain the creek entrance and navigation channel. Inspections of the training wall performed most recently in 2016 found that the structure is in need of refurbishment / upgrades.

The importance of the training wall has increased since the construction of the Onslow Marine Support Base (OMSB) in 2017, which comprises an approach channel and wharf to allow access and berthing for offshore marine supply and service vessels. OMSB are currently deepening and extending the Beadon Creek harbour approach channel as part of Stage 2 of their project which obtained EPA approval on 18 April 2018. It is possible that the dredging of the Beadon Creek channel, by others, may still be occurring concurrently with the Works.

Recent physical modelling of the structure conducted by DoT in collaboration with OMSB indicates that the structure may continue to function in the present condition, however there is risk of structural failure during a cyclonic event. The deepening of the adjacent channel will also have an immediate impact on the stability of sections of the training wall, necessitating the training wall upgrades.

The purpose of the Works is therefore to upgrade the majority of the structure and install scour protection where necessary. New armour is required to repair the head of the structure. It is anticipated that in order to gain access to the head, some removal and repacking of the existing armour and importing rock to increase the structure crest level to 3.4m CD along the mid-sections of the structure will be required.