The Gold Coast Waterways Authority and City of Gold Coast are partnering to plan and develop new technologies, infrastructure and environmental management practices under a new agreement aimed at tackling climate change.

As a first step under the partnership, GCWA and the City are commissioning a project to prepare a business case for managing coastal hazards, including rising sea levels and extreme weather events, in order to protect vital infrastructure including the Gold Coast Seaway, the Sand Bypass system and Wave Break Island.

The project will look at the social, environmental and economic impacts of climate change and consider a range of options for responding including developing new technology for monitoring changes, building new infrastructure or altering environmental management practices.

With a natural capital value of $26 billion and over 6,000 direct and indirect jobs relying on our waterways, the city depends on features like the Gold Coast Seaway, the Sand Bypass System and Wave Break Island to ensure ongoing and safe access to our waterways for recreational boaties and commercial operators.

They also protect public open spaces including Doug Jennings Park at The Spit and foreshores along the Broadwater from hazards like storm surges and erosion.

This project will consider how these assets are holding up against climate change impacts and what future infrastructure is needed  to respond to the changing environment.

A tender to undertake the project has been awarded to a group comprising south-east Queensland firms NCEconomics and Alluvium Consulting.

The partnership will build on the work being done under the City’s Coastal Hazard Adaptation Strategy (CHAS).

The Gold Coast has a strong track record in leading the way with developing innovative responses to environmental challenges.

The Gold Coast Seaway and world-first Sand Bypass System were developed and constructed in direct response to the need for more robust coastal protection systems. The infrastructure still stands as one of Australia’s most significant engineering feats of the 1980s and was only possible because of direct support from the Queensland Government.

The project will set a clear direction for the management and protection of the coastal inland waterways using science and evidence-based research.

Here’s a trivia question for you.

What’s valued at over $11 million and helps keep Gold Coast navigation channels safer and accessible for boaties?

If your answer was the Aids to Navigation (AtoN) dotted around the waterways network, you are right!

On the Gold Coast there are more than 2,000 beacons, buoys and marine signs managed and maintained by us, more than any other maritime region in Queensland.

As a waterways city with an extensive network of channels people use to travel from A to B like a road network, we need a good system of signs and markers to help everyone navigate their way around safely.

When you consider our waterways contribute $700 million directly and indirectly to our local economy every year and support vital tourism, marine and recreation businesses, the money spent on our Aids to Navigation program is a sound investment.

GCWA has set aside a total of $200,000 over the next four years under our Gold Coast Waterways Management Program to keep our navaids ship-shape.

Whilst the asset’s overall value may seem surprising, each smaller beacon like the one pictured (of which there are hundreds) costs about $500 each. The major pile beacons found in areas like the Main Channel can cost up to $250,000 each to manufacture and establish.

GCWA procures the beacons and buoys from an Australian manufacturer based in Victoria whilst the rest of the materials used are sourced locally where possible.

GCWA’s Waterways team undertakes most of the construction, repairs and maintenance but it does use local contractors for some of the bigger repair jobs such as on the major pile beacons. This is because major welding and platform repairs can’t be done in-house.

Damage to our navaids can be caused by a range of factors including bird-droppings, wild weather or, most frustratingly, vessel collisions. From time-to-time, birds choose to use the markers as roosting spots. When that happens, the Team calls in specialists to ensure proper relocation of the wildlife.

GCWA’s Waterways team clocks up thousands of nautical miles each year checking and maintaining the navaids throughout the city’s 170 kilometres of navigable channels which they know like the backs of their hands.

Some of the more interesting spots where you’ll find Aids to Navigation are the leading lights on the top of Bayview Tower at Runaway Bay, the starboard entrance beacon at the northern wall of the Gold Coast Seaway which is sometimes accessed by helicopter and the southern sector of Moreton Bay Marine Park.

Typically, GCWA’s rolling maintenance schedule aims to ensure each sign is checked every two years and all navigation beacons are checked every 12 months. Emergency repairs are done in response to reports of damage.

If you are out and about on the water and see an Aid to Navigation that needs fixing please give the Waterways team a call on 5539 7350 or send an email to mail@ydsgroup2.com.au  or find out more here

We’re honoured to be part of a team which has won a Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) 2020 National Award for Planning Excellence for our work on The Spit Master Plan https://www.planning.org.au/awards/awards-for-planning-excellence-2

We’re sharing the Award for Public Engagement and Community Planning for The Spit Master Plan with our colleagues in the Department of State Development, Innovation and Tourism, City of Gold Coast, Articulous, John Gaskell Planning Consultants, Deicke Richards and ASPECT studios.

The judging panel noted the strong engagement and collaboration which featured throughout the development of The Spit Master Plan.

This is the second time the consultation undertaken for The Spit Master Plan has been recognised, with the team picking up an award from the Queensland chapter of the PIA in 2019.

We wouldn’t have achieved this without the ongoing support and engagement from the community members who are committed to working with us to bring the Spit Master Plan to life!

If you’ve been to the Spit lately you may have seen work progressing on the two projects we’re delivering as part of The Spit Master Plan implementation – the Seaway Promenade and the Moondarewa Spit Foreshore Improvements. We’re looking forward to finishing these in time for the Christmas holidays and opening them up for locals and visitors to enjoy.

We’re working to create a shared vision for our beautiful waterways, one which truly reflects what the community wants to see. We’re talking about a blueprint to help us deliver the best possible management of the waterways into the future that is aligned to the vision of the community.

As part of that vision, we want to celebrate the cultural, social, economic and environmental values which make our waterways special and set us apart from every other community in Australia.

We can’t do this on our own which is why the Gold Coast Waterways Authority is inviting Expressions of Interest from individuals and organisations to join a working group to help us update our 10-year waterways strategy.

By co-designing the strategy with you, we hope to create a model for waterways management which other communities will want to follow, and which changes the way locals and visitors view and use our waterways.

You may be wondering what sort of commitment you’ll need to make in terms of your time. The initial working group meeting will take place on 1 September from 9am to midday. If you can’t make this session, we’re planning two more working group meetings before the end of December with a view to present our updated strategy to our Board early next year.

When it comes to your imagination, ideas and enthusiasm, GCWA encourages you to contribute as much as you can. Our waterways city has an exciting future ahead – to play a part in shaping it, please nominate by registering here. The EOI closed at 11.59pm on Tuesday 18 August 2020. 

If you have any additional ideas or feedback for our 10-Year Strategy update, please contact us via the below methods:

Email: mail@ydsgroup2.com.au
Phone: 07 5539 7350
Facebook: facebook.com/GoldCoastWaterwaysAuthority/
Postal address: PO Box 107, Southport Qld 4215

With our population and boating registrations increasing, we’re turning to science to give us a clearer picture of activity on our waterways. This will help us improve planning, waterways management and safety.

We’ve kicked off some research using smart cameras to identify the number and types of vessels using our waterways.

Researchers from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) will combine the images with information on marine incidents and weather conditions to establish trends and provide insight into future patterns of use.

Q     What research is being undertaken for Gold Coast Waterways Authority (GCWA)?

We are using smart camera technology and data science methods to build a more detailed picture of how our waterways are being used to improve planning, network management and safety.

The research will use advanced machine learning and statistical methods to estimate the number and types of vessels using the waterways. In combination with information on marine incidents and weather conditions, this will establish usage trends and provide insight into future patterns of waterways use and potential pressure points. The researchers will use machine learning to train computers to differentiate between types of vessels, for example, to separately identify personal watercraft from tinnies.

A second component of the project is exploring the feasibility of using the same camera technology to develop a more accurate way of measuring vessel speed on the water.

Q     Why is the research being done?

This project builds on a study we completed last year into users and uses on our waterways.

The Gold Coast is experiencing rapid population growth and increasing boat registrations. Our ‘Users and Uses’ study shows boating traffic in the northern Gold Coast waterways region (the area between the Logan River and the Broadwater north of the Seaway) is expected to triple in line with population increases in the next 25 years

We need to ensure our planning keeps pace with this growth to ensure locals and visitors can continue to access and enjoy our beautiful waterways.

To properly plan we need access to data with integrity and science behind it, which is why we’ve engaged with the team at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT.)

Q     Who is conducting the research?

The research is being undertaken by academics from QUT’s Science and Engineering Faculty. The team includes specialists in statistics, machine learning, coastal management, engineering and the built environment.

Q     When is it being undertaken?

The cameras will start taking pictures on the Australia Day long weekend and will be in place for about two months. We’ve chosen to start the trial on the long weekend because this is traditionally one of the busiest weekends on the waterways. The researchers will download pictures from the cameras at regular intervals during the trial so they can start the process of interpreting the data.

Q     How many cameras will be in place and where will they be?

20 cameras will be installed across the waterways network including locations in the Southern Broadwater and the Coomera River.

We’re using a mix of public and private properties to host the technology.

We won’t disclose the exact locations for security reasons.

Q     Doesn’t this technology already exist?

As far as GCWA is aware, there is no camera technology in widespread use that can accurately, autonomously and remotely measure on-water speeds, taking into account factors like strength and direction of currents and the directions vessels are travelling in, as well as identifying registration numbers of vessels.

Q     Why can’t you measure speed using a radar gun?

Measuring speed on-water is not the same as measuring point-to-point speed on land because a number of other factors need to be considered.

This includes strength and direction of water currents, the direction a boat is travelling in, prevailing weather conditions such as wind and the distance of the vessel from the camera.

The research work will involve taking those factors into account to develop a method for measuring on-water speed. For example, we’ll use current sensors placed at several locations to measure current strength and direction. We’ll be using advanced machine learning to train computers to recognise registration numbers on vessels.

Q     What will GCWA do if photos capture people doing the wrong thing on the water?

The information is being gathered for research purposes, not for law enforcement or compliance. The images collected will only be used for the intended purposes of the project.

Q     Will I be fined?

The information is being gathered for research purposes, not for law enforcement or compliance. The images collected will only be used for the intended purposes of the project.

Q     What about in the future?

We don’t even know if we can accurately measure speed at this stage, this is why we’re undertaking the research.

If we do come up with a method that works we’d have to do a lot of field testing with other agencies like the water police and Maritime Safety Queensland before it was put to use.

Q     How does the camera technology work?

Each camera will take high frequency images of the waterways.  From these images, data will be extracted to determine type and number of users on the waterways.  Data from consecutive images will be used in estimating vessel speed.

Q     What will you be doing with the images?

The images of the waterways will form the majority of the data for the study.  This data will be input variables into algorithms, which will be developed to automatically identify vessel type and estimate vessel speed.  To train these algorithms, known vessel types in images and known speeds of vessels will be used.  To capture this additional data, a proportion of images will be visually inspected to manually identify vessels in images.  For estimating vessel speed, we will engage with the Queensland Police Service to capture images of police vessels at various speeds throughout the project.

The photos taken by the cameras will only be assessed by the QUT research team.

Q     How will machine learning be used in this project?

Machine learning methods will be used to determine what image data will be most useful for determining vessel type and speed.  Such methods should also be useful in developing a predictive model.

Q     Where else has machine learning effectively been used?

Machine learning is used in many applications including in your day-to-day life, such as in virtual personal assistants like Siri, video surveillance, online advertising, detecting spam emails and more.

Q     What about privacy issues?

GCWA has signed a formal agreement with QUT. The photos taken by the cameras will only be assessed by the QUT research team.

Q     Will GCWA be acting like Big Brother on the water?

This is a research project, not a law enforcement or compliance exercise.

We’re using the technology to estimate  traffic movements so that we can improve our planning for the future use of the waterways network.

Q     What was the Users and Uses study?

The Assessment of Congestion and Conflicting Use Management for the Gold Coast Waterways also known as the ‘Users and Uses’ study was completed in 2019.

This initial study was the first serious attempt to understand past and present patterns of use on the Gold Coast’s waterways and pinpoint areas where access could come under pressure.

The assessment looked at past and present uses of the waterways and drew on publicly available information sources such as:

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) such as the City of Gold Coast’s data portal, Australian Bureau of Statistics and Geoscience Australia
• GCWA reports and projects – for example the NCEconomics report into the social and economic value of the waterways and our report into the Coomera River South Branch speed limits trial
• online social media portals – such as geotagged Flickr photos, geotagged Tweets, MapMyFitness, and the STRAVA fitness tracking app
• online Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel tracking data
• online high-resolution satellite imagery and navigation charts.

Q     How much is the project costing?

We’re investing $230,000 in this trial. The funding is coming from our $27.6 million three year rolling Waterways Management Program.