Urban flood modelling at speed and scale. Frequent floods in urban areas cause damages comparable to extreme floods. This is likely to intensify with future urbanisation and climate change. Although Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) offers sustainable urban drainage solutions, there are no models that can select an optimal WSUD system to deliver on a set urban flood mitigation target. The project aims to develop a new generation of fast urban flood models and the-first-of-its-kind WSUD plannin ....Urban flood modelling at speed and scale. Frequent floods in urban areas cause damages comparable to extreme floods. This is likely to intensify with future urbanisation and climate change. Although Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) offers sustainable urban drainage solutions, there are no models that can select an optimal WSUD system to deliver on a set urban flood mitigation target. The project aims to develop a new generation of fast urban flood models and the-first-of-its-kind WSUD planning tool to support industry and governments to effectively reduce the urban flooding damages. The project outcomes are also applicable for advancing early warning systems and real-time control of floods.Read moreRead less
A study of turbulence and influence of anthropogenic inputs in small subtropical estuaries. This project aims to improve our basic understanding of mixing and dispersion processes in small subtropical estuaries, and to develop improved predictive models to assist with the management of natural ecosystems. This will be the first comprehensive study of mixing processes and the influence of anthropogenic inputs in small subtropical estuaries.
Activating lazy stormwater wetlands through real time monitoring & control. Constructed stormwater wetlands are the last line of defence preventing pollution of urban waterways, but wetlands often fail, with their passive operation unable to adapt to the highly variable climate and hydrology they experience. This project aims to use advances in real-time control technology to turn these lazy wetlands into active wetland systems, optimising their performance. It aims to deliver new-generation tec ....Activating lazy stormwater wetlands through real time monitoring & control. Constructed stormwater wetlands are the last line of defence preventing pollution of urban waterways, but wetlands often fail, with their passive operation unable to adapt to the highly variable climate and hydrology they experience. This project aims to use advances in real-time control technology to turn these lazy wetlands into active wetland systems, optimising their performance. It aims to deliver new-generation technologies to enhance water quality treatment, enhance urban water security and guarantee environmental flows to maintain healthy waterways. Working in partnership with waterway managers and water retailers, this project strives to deliver a nationally and globally relevant technology to change how we manage water in cities.Read moreRead less
Waste Containment Lining Systems for Antarctica: Ensuring their Performance Under Extreme Conditions. The Australian Antarctic Territory, and elsewhere on the continent, has a legacy of diesel fuel spills. This project aims to better protect the Antarctic environment through a combination of innovative on-site containment and remediation, with state-of-art laboratory-based experimentation to underpin improved design of engineered geosynthetic composite containments. Currently Australia leads ot ....Waste Containment Lining Systems for Antarctica: Ensuring their Performance Under Extreme Conditions. The Australian Antarctic Territory, and elsewhere on the continent, has a legacy of diesel fuel spills. This project aims to better protect the Antarctic environment through a combination of innovative on-site containment and remediation, with state-of-art laboratory-based experimentation to underpin improved design of engineered geosynthetic composite containments. Currently Australia leads other Antarctic countries in the clean-up of contaminated sites and this project seeks to extend this leadership by developing a set of guidelines for containment of contaminated soils to safeguard this unique environment.Read moreRead less
Optimum aeration strategies for shallow tidally flushed lakes. Shallow tidally flushed lakes frequently suffer from water quality problems which include catastrophic fish kills. Frequently these events are related to the response of a highly modified system to a natural event. One event is the change from a saline to a fresh environment with seasonal freshwater inflow, in which case the salt tolerant algal species dies. The balance between photosynthesis, sediment uptake, surface oxygen transfer ....Optimum aeration strategies for shallow tidally flushed lakes. Shallow tidally flushed lakes frequently suffer from water quality problems which include catastrophic fish kills. Frequently these events are related to the response of a highly modified system to a natural event. One event is the change from a saline to a fresh environment with seasonal freshwater inflow, in which case the salt tolerant algal species dies. The balance between photosynthesis, sediment uptake, surface oxygen transfer and flushing is lost, with the result that the lake quickly becomes anoxic, resulting in fish kills. This project examines some aeration solutions to this problem.Read moreRead less
Infrastructure project delivery: a life cycle evaluation model for public private partnerships. Governments continue to embrace public-private partnerships so as to obtain value for money and provide financial accountability to taxpayers. This project will determine the most appropriate way to engage the private sector in infrastructure delivery and develop a dynamic life cycle evaluation model to ensure projects are delivered effectively and efficiently.
Seismic analysis of cracking and deformations in concrete gravity dams. This project aims to establish a rational predictive capability for the responses of concrete gravity dams subject to extreme design earthquakes. This will include the development of innovative numerical methods for effective modelling of crack propagation and closure, large slips on crack faces and weak interfaces, dam-reservoir interaction, dam-foundation interaction and automatic mesh generation. The expected outcomes of ....Seismic analysis of cracking and deformations in concrete gravity dams. This project aims to establish a rational predictive capability for the responses of concrete gravity dams subject to extreme design earthquakes. This will include the development of innovative numerical methods for effective modelling of crack propagation and closure, large slips on crack faces and weak interfaces, dam-reservoir interaction, dam-foundation interaction and automatic mesh generation. The expected outcomes of the project will be a significantly improved prediction tool. It is also anticipated that the project will result in improvements in dam and public safety, and more efficient use of funds for dam safety upgrades and management.Read moreRead less
Assessing risk of oligomictic conditions in sub-tropical water supply lakes. Assessing risk of oligomictic conditions in sub-tropical water supply lakes. This project aims to assess the risk of low rates of mixing in sub-tropical drinking water supply reservoirs, using environmental monitoring and numerical modelling. Emerging evidence suggests sub-tropical drinking water supply reservoirs could transition to low mixing states with increasing age and projected changes in global climate. While th ....Assessing risk of oligomictic conditions in sub-tropical water supply lakes. Assessing risk of oligomictic conditions in sub-tropical water supply lakes. This project aims to assess the risk of low rates of mixing in sub-tropical drinking water supply reservoirs, using environmental monitoring and numerical modelling. Emerging evidence suggests sub-tropical drinking water supply reservoirs could transition to low mixing states with increasing age and projected changes in global climate. While this risk is poorly understood, it could significantly affect the long-term reliability of water supply and potable water treatment costs. Addressing this knowledge gap is expected to develop effective management responses to ensure the long term sustainable use of these water resources.Read moreRead less
Turbulence and energy dissipation in stepped spillways and urban drainage systems. The economical sustainability of Australia's water resources relies upon an efficient use of its structures. Present water resources are diminishing because of poor engineering design. This issue is critical in both rural and urban Australia. The economical expansions of existing water supplies can be achieved by refurbishing reservoirs, water supply networks and urban water systems. The expertise derived from the ....Turbulence and energy dissipation in stepped spillways and urban drainage systems. The economical sustainability of Australia's water resources relies upon an efficient use of its structures. Present water resources are diminishing because of poor engineering design. This issue is critical in both rural and urban Australia. The economical expansions of existing water supplies can be achieved by refurbishing reservoirs, water supply networks and urban water systems. The expertise derived from the project will spearhead applications in a range of industries dealing with civil and environmental systems.Read moreRead less
The effect of wastewater treatment on the ecotoxicity of chiral chemicals. This project aims to assess the environmental implications of pharmaceuticals discharged in effluents from wastewater treatment plants. Trace levels of human pharmaceuticals occur in sewage and urban waterways, but during sewage treatment, some pharmaceuticals can undergo a chemical transformation known as 'chiral inversion'. In some cases, this may convert relatively benign environmental contaminants to more ecologically ....The effect of wastewater treatment on the ecotoxicity of chiral chemicals. This project aims to assess the environmental implications of pharmaceuticals discharged in effluents from wastewater treatment plants. Trace levels of human pharmaceuticals occur in sewage and urban waterways, but during sewage treatment, some pharmaceuticals can undergo a chemical transformation known as 'chiral inversion'. In some cases, this may convert relatively benign environmental contaminants to more ecologically toxic species. This project will investigate why and how some pharmaceuticals become susceptible to chiral inversion and assess ecotoxicological differences. This work is expected to determine the significance of considering chiral inversion in environmental risk assessment, with applications to a broader range of chemicals including pesticides and industrial chemicals.Read moreRead less