Key infrastructure review (Newcastle, NSW) vulnerability to a Tsunami

Couch, Greg (2015) Key infrastructure review (Newcastle, NSW) vulnerability to a Tsunami. [USQ Project]

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Abstract

The project aim was to undertake a key infrastructure review of the Newcastle (NSW) area in relation to vulnerability to tsunami damage. Previous research by Xing, Ding, Yuen (2014), and Hayes & Furlong (2010) found there is significant risk of a major tsunami event on the south east coast of Australia as a result of movement and earthquakes along the tectonic plate boundary in the Puysegur Trench south of New Zealand. On completion of the Newcastle inundation model the second part of the project was to identify the location of and impact to key infrastructure as a result of the wave inundation throughout the Newcastle Local Government Area (LGA).

Using the hydrodynamic modelling software ANUGA a tsunami inundation model for the Newcastle LGA was created. This model was conservative with the tsunami event to coincide with the Newcastle Probable Maximum Flood (PMF). For the tsunami modelling the deep water wave data from Xing et al (2014) was adopted. The model was created and used for data extraction such as inundation depths, flow velocity, inundation height and VxD values for all impacted areas.

The inundation results found that over 60%, 115km2 of the Newcastle LGA was inundated by the tsunami. Over 55km2 was located within regions where the flow characteristics were greater than the critical values and placed all buildings at risk of failure. It was identified through analysis of data and cross referencing to maps of the Newcastle LGA that major infrastructure had a significant risk of catastrophic impacted by the modelled tsunami including:
• Arterial Roadways,
• Rail Networks,
• Emergency Services,
• Schools,
• Electricity,
• Sewer and Water, and
• General buildings.

The project was able to identify the inundation zone and estimate the impact of inundation on the infrastructure. This information was used to make various suggestions relating to the relocation of certain infrastructure and the improvement in network redundancies.


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Item Type: USQ Project
Item Status: Live Archive
Additional Information: Bachelor of Engineering Major Civil Engineering project
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Civil Engineering and Surveying (1 Jul 2013 - 31 Dec 2021)
Supervisors: Drysdale, Trevor
Date Deposited: 01 Jun 2016 01:55
Last Modified: 06 Jun 2016 00:47
Uncontrolled Keywords: Tsunami, Inundation, key infrastructure review, Newcastle Local Government Area, hydrodynamic modelling software ANUGA
Fields of Research (2008): 09 Engineering > 0905 Civil Engineering > 090501 Civil Geotechnical Engineering
Fields of Research (2020): 40 ENGINEERING > 4005 Civil engineering > 400502 Civil geotechnical engineering
URI: https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/29192

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