Mitigating the effects of flooding in the Hunter

After the devastating Hunter Valley flood of 1955, the Hunter Valley Conservation Trust (forerunner to the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority) began working with the state government, local councils and landholders to coordinate flood mitigation activities across the Hunter's floodplain.

Today, the Australian, NSW and local governments continue to manage the construction and maintenance of 160km of levees, 4km of spillways, 245 floodgate structures, 120km of flood drains, and 270km of streambank stabilisation works and numerous plantings of native vegetation.

Although these works cannot prevent flooding, they can help reduce the impact of floods on the lives and livelihood of people living on the Hunter's floodplain, which includes the towns of Singleton, Denman, Raymond Terrace, and Maitland.

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Maitland levee bank

The $8 million Maitland levee bank is the largest flood mitigation project on the lower Hunter floodplain in recent times - both in terms of dollars invested, and scale of earth and rock works involved. The project involved work both upstream and downstream of the Belmore Bridge, which crosses the Hunter River between Lorn and Maitland. The riverbank protection works and a concrete crib wall, originally constructed in the 1960s, are undergoing major rehabilitation to help provide protection to the Maitland central business district during minor and moderate flooding.

The project, which began in July 2000 and completed in November 2003 was funded by the then Hunter Catchment Management Trust, the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources (DIPNR), the federal Department of Transport and Regional Services and Maitland City Council. The NSW Department of Commerce managed the works.

July 2000-February 2001
The Lorn riverbank of the Hunter River was realigned by removing 74 000 cubic metres of sediment (sand, soil and silt) from the river from Belmore Bridge to 1 300 metres downstream. Associated draining, environmental and landscaping works on the riverbank were also completed at this time. These works cost around $500 000.

March 2001-December 2001
A sacrificial rock layer at the base of the bank and a rock berm (a ledge alongside the riverbank) were constructed using 6 000 tonnes of rock. The sacrificial rock layer allows the rehabilitation works to settle during flood events without compromising the overall structure. The works, which cost just over $3 million, extend from 200 metres upstream of Belmore Bridge to 820 metres downstream, and are approximately 1.5 metres above the normal river level.

June 2002-April 2003
An additional 40 000 tonnes of rock was added to the rock berm, extending it to 1 300 metres downstream of Belmore Bridge. The 40 000 tonne rock blanket, which stretches 20 metres upstream and 300 metres downstream of the bridge, will help to stabilise the riverbank. More than 34 000 cubic metres of soil were used to fill behind the rock berm and to shape and stabilise the riverbank. This stage of the project cost just over $3 million.

March 2003-September 2003
The fourth and final stage of the project involved placing 18 000 cubic metres of soil and 4 100 tonnes of rock to finish shaping the riverbank and the construction of a reinforced sandstone block wall. This wall replaces the original 1960s crib wall and extends 300m downstream of Belmore Bridge. Construction of access roads and walking tracks and the stormwater and drainage connections behind the wall, and re-turfing of the riverbank, were also completed during this $1.3 million stage of the project.