Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project
Encyclopedia
The Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project (CDP) began on 8 February 2008 to deepen the shipping channels leading to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, in Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
to 14 metres (46 ft) draught
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
allow greater access for container ship
Container ship
Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport.-History:...
s. An estimated A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
969 million, was to be spent on the works, with $150 million funded by taxpayers. The dredging works were conducted by Dutch company Royal Boskalis Westminster
Royal Boskalis Westminster
Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a Netherlands-based company that provides services relating to the construction and maintenance of maritime infrastructure on an international basis...
for the Port of Melbourne Corporation
Port of Melbourne Corporation
The Port of Melbourne Corporation is a statutory body established by the Victorian Government. The Corporation commenced operations on 1 July 2003, when it took over the management of the Port of Melbourne from Melbourne Port Corporation...
(PoMC), a statutory body established by the Victorian Government responsible for the running of the port, at a cost of $500 million and was expected to be completed before 31 December 2009, pending auditor reports and various legal actions against the project. The project was to be conducted under a controversial Public-Private-Partnership.
Operating almost 24 hours a day, the project involved the removal of approximately 22.9 million m3 (810 million cu ft) of sand, fine river silt (including about around 3 million m3 (110 million cu ft) of contaminated sediment) or approximately 1% of the bay by area, assuming the bay has only two dimensions. The material removed was transported to designated "dump sites". According to environmental groups, the dredging would disturb marine plant, animal and microbial life through large areas of the bay.
The project has caused minor controversy among a small minority of the Victorian population. The small community group Blue Wedges
Blue Wedges
Blue Wedges is a conservation organisation in conflict with Australia's Victorian government policy to deepen shipping channels in Port Phillip and the large scale development of Ramsar listed Westernport...
held public rallies and several pickets from 2004–2008, involving surfers, canoes, kayaks, boats and yachts who put themselves in the path of the dredging ship Queen of the Netherlands, delaying the project for a short time. The project eventually began, although under limited conditions, after Blue Wedges won a reprieve in the Federal Court. The limited conditions were stripped from 28 March 2008 after ensuing legal proceedings saw the Blue Wedges case dismissed. Legal costs were pursued by the state government.
In 2009 the Victorian Auditor-General's report was released . The Auditor-General sourced information on what percentage of ships could and could not enter the bay, from the Port of Melbourne exclusively, who had twice previously overestimated the number of ships that could not enter the bay prior to dredging. In addition, almost all of the shipping companies that use Melbourne's ports stated that there was no need for dredging or channel deepening in the bay or around the ports .
The government announced the completion of works in November 2009, ahead of schedule and $200 million under budget.
The project
The Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project was carried out by Dutch dredging company Royal Boskalis WestminsterRoyal Boskalis Westminster
Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a Netherlands-based company that provides services relating to the construction and maintenance of maritime infrastructure on an international basis...
for the Port of Melbourne Corporation
Port of Melbourne
The Port of Melbourne is Australia's busiest port for containerised and general cargo. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria and covers an area at the mouth of the Yarra River, downstream of Bolte Bridge, which is at the head of Port Phillip, as well as several piers on the bay itself...
. The PoMC also sought the assistance of Boskalis Australia Pty Ltd, a daughter company of Royal Boskalis Westminster.
Prior to the completion of the works, ships entering the Port of Melbourne
Port of Melbourne
The Port of Melbourne is Australia's busiest port for containerised and general cargo. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria and covers an area at the mouth of the Yarra River, downstream of Bolte Bridge, which is at the head of Port Phillip, as well as several piers on the bay itself...
were restricted to 11.6 m (38.1 ft) draught (12.1 m (39.7 ft) at high tide). Larger container ships instead need 14 m (45.9 ft) to carry full loads. The PoMC estimated that in the 2006-07 financial year, 38.5% of ships visiting the port were already potentially affected by draught limitations because the channel did not allow for the extra depth, with this figure rising to 44.3% in the December quarter of 2007. The key objective of the Channel Deepening Project was to address these draught restrictions.
Project areas
| Project No. and Area | Shipping channel(s) | Location | Status | Start | Finish | Dredging volumes/Type of material dredged |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Yarra River and Hobsons Bay | Yarra River & Williamstown Channels | Completed | 24 April 2008 | 5.38 million m3 of clay and silt, approximately 2.07 million m3 of this contaminated | ||
| 2. North of Bay | Port Melbourne Channel | http://www.channelproject.com.au/global/docs/kp_map_kilometerpointsportmelbournechannel_280208.pdf | Completed | 29 February 2008 | 2.40 million m3 of mainly clay, approximately 43, 000 m3 of this contaminated | |
| 3. South of Bay | South Channel | http://www.channelproject.com.au/global/docs/kp_map__kilometrepointsinsouthchannel_080208.pdf | Completed | 8 February 2008 | 14.59 million m3 of mainly sand | |
| 4. The Entrance | The Great Ship Channel | Completed | 5 April 2008 | 0.55 million m3 of limestone/sandstone |
Yarra River and Hobsons Bay
North of Bay
The second area to be dredged, dredging was expected to begin in this area but was delayed after a court injunction, with dredging instead beginning in the south of the bay.
South of bay
The first area to be dredged under limited conditions specified in a court injunction.
The Entrance
The Entrance was argued to be one of the more sensitive areas of Port Phillip Bay to be dredged, after a rockfall incident that occurred during trial dredging in 2005.
Disposal of dredged material
Uncontaminated dredged material from the Port Melbourne, Williamstown and Yarra River channels was disposed of in the existing Port of Melbourne Dredge Material Ground (DMG), which covers an area of about 9.36 km² (3.61 sq mi) (or approximately 0.48% of the total bay area). The site was expected to be extended to the south by an area of 2.7 km² (1 sq mi) (or approximately 0.14% of the bay) to accommodate the dredged material volumes as a result of the dredging project as well as to accommodate dredged material volumes from future maintenance dredging.
Uncontaminated dredged material from the South Channel and the Great Ship Channel was to be disposed of in a dredged material ground yet to be built in the south east part of the bay, expected to cover an area of 7.68 km² (2.97 sq mi) (or approximately 0.39% of the bay area).
Those materials which are contaminated were to be stored in an underwater clay containment area known as a ‘bund’ at the existing Port of Melbourne DMG, and capped with clean dredged sand.
Environmental management
Various environmental monitoringEnvironmental monitoring
Environmental monitoring describes the processes and activities that need to take place to characterise and monitor the quality of the environment...
activities must be carried out by the PoMC as stipulated in the Environmental Management Plan (EMP)
- Turbidity monitoring
A new, risk-based approach to setting limits on turbidity so as to protect seagrasses in the southern regions of the Bay was developed by Environmetrics Australia. Six-hourly Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) control charts and 2-week moving average control charts were also developed by Environmetrics Australia. These calculation tools provide, respectively, an early warning capability and an assessment of the likelihood that minimum light requirements for seagrasses will be maintained.
- Office of the Environmental Monitor
In 2007, the Office of the Environmental Monitor, an independent government body, was established to scrutinize the environmental proceedings of the project, in particular to make sure that the project conforms to the EMP. The objectives of the independent body were to "Be accessible to all stakeholders and the community;Scrutinise, report and advise on the Project’s environmental performance in an independent and transparent way; Communicate all available information on the Project’s environmental performance in a timely manner to stakeholders and the community."
- Environmental Protection Authority (Victoria)|Environmental Protection Authority]]
- Monitoring Tool
The use of a robust monitoring tool in providing accurate and timely information was an important aspect to the project. SRA Information Technology provided its EnviroSys software as the tool whereby turbidity monitoring and vessel tracking could occur in real time. Early warning alerts could be generated by the monitoring tool to inform when predefined exceedance levels had been triggered.
Project approval
Cooperating with the Environment Effects Act 1978, the PoMC released its Environmental Effects Statement (EES), a report on the environmental, economic and social impacts of the channel deepening project, on 5 July 2004. The EES was available for public viewing until 16 August 2004 and an independent panel sat from 21 September to 17 December 2004 to hear submissions and consider the environmental effects and issues raised in the EES. In February 2005, the independent panel released their report on the EES, presenting 137 key aspects of the EES which needed building on. These included further examination of channel deepening designs; investigation of dredging technology; investigation of best methods of sediment disposal, and examination of turbidity. The panel's recommendations led to the Trial Dredge Program (TDP) that took place from 6 August 2005.Consequently, on 31 March 2005, the then Minister for Planning Rob Hulls
Rob Hulls
Rob Justin Hulls has been a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 1996, representing the electorate of Niddrie. As well as previously serving as the Deputy Premier of Victoria, he was also the state Attorney-General and Minister for Racing.Rob Hulls was born in Melbourne and was...
announced that the PoMC would be required to carry out a Supplementary Environmental Effects Statement (SEES) to further investigate the environmental impact of the dredging project and address its shortcomings. Hulls said the SEES would "build upon the EES process to date" and would be "based upon the key areas outlined by the panel and allow for further expert analysis". On 21 March 2007 the PoMC released its Supplementary Environment Effects Statement (SEES) for public viewing until 7 May.
The EES and the SEES culminated in the Environmental Management Plan (EMP), a report prepared by the PoMC consisting of "regulatory controls, environmental controls, project delivery standards and environmental monitoring" for the channel deepening project. On 5 February 2008, Environment Minister Peter Garret approved of the EMP.
Timeline
2004
- July
- 5 July - The Environmental Effects Statement (EES) is released by the PoMc for public viewing until 16 August.
- The PoMC enters into alliance with Royal Boskalis Westminster.
- 21 September - An independent panel sits until 17 December to hear submissions and consider the environmental effects and issues raised in the EES.
2005
- February - The EES Panel Report presents 137 recommendations regarding the EES.
- 31 March - Minister for Planning Rob HullsRob HullsRob Justin Hulls has been a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 1996, representing the electorate of Niddrie. As well as previously serving as the Deputy Premier of Victoria, he was also the state Attorney-General and Minister for Racing.Rob Hulls was born in Melbourne and was...
announces that the PoMC are required to carry out a Supplementary Environmental Effects Statement (SEES). - 5 August - A Blue Wedges injunction to stop the trial dredging fails as the objection is dismissed by the Supreme Court of VictoriaSupreme Court of VictoriaThe Supreme Court of Victoria is the superior court for the State of Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1852, and is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited jurisdiction within the state...
. - 6 August - The A$32 million nine-week Trial Dredge Program (TDP) carried out by the Queen of the NetherlandsQueen of the Netherlands (ship)The Queen of the Netherlands is a Dutch trailing suction hopper dredging ship constructed in 1998. The vessel has been used in high-profile salvage and dredging operations including the investigation into the Swissair Flight 111 crash and in the Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project...
begins.- A rockfall incident occurs at an area known as the Canyon at The Heads, with the PoMC stating that the rockfall is minor and damage is minimal and temporary.
- 30 September - Trial dredging ends two weeks ahead of schedule and within budget.
2007
- 21 March - The Supplementary Environment Effects Statement (SEES) is released for public viewing by the PoMC until 7 May.
- 4 April - Minister for Planning at the time, Justin MaddenJustin MaddenMadden was 206 cm tall, and one of the tallest men ever to play Australian Rules football, and his potential in this area was fully utilized by Carlton, who used him as their main ruckman. Over the next fifteen seasons, Madden became a mainstay of the Carlton side, and one of the most...
, announces the members of the panel the independent panel that will consider the SEES for the dredging project. - May - Blue Wedges releases its submission to the Supplementary Environment Effects Statement.
- Days before the Inquiry Panel is due to adjourn, the PoMC presents documents stating that the rockfall of August 2005 was in fact much larger than initially reported with 6000 m³ (211,888 cu ft), or approximately 9900 t (9,744 LT) of rock, falling down the canyon wall, damaging sealife inside the canyon.
- December
- Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change Gavin JenningsGavin JenningsGavin Jennings is an Australian politician. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council since 1999, representing Melbourne Province and then the South Eastern Metropolitan Region...
gives the project approval under the Coastal Management Act 1995. - Federal Minister for Environment Peter Garrett gives the project approval to proceed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
- Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change Gavin Jennings
- 5 December - Blue Wedges wins the right to challenge Environment Minister Peter Garrett's right to sign off on the dredging project, with the plan to take the matter to the Federal CourtFederal Court of AustraliaThe Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law , along with some summary criminal matters. Cases are heard at first instance by single Judges...
in January 2008.
2008
- 15 January - The Federal Court of AustraliaFederal Court of AustraliaThe Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law , along with some summary criminal matters. Cases are heard at first instance by single Judges...
dismisses the Blue WedgesBlue WedgesBlue Wedges is a conservation organisation in conflict with Australia's Victorian government policy to deepen shipping channels in Port Phillip and the large scale development of Ramsar listed Westernport...
claim. - 17 January - The Black Marlin transport ship enters Port Phillip carrying equipment to assist with dredging.
- 18 January - The Queen of the NetherlandsQueen of the Netherlands (ship)The Queen of the Netherlands is a Dutch trailing suction hopper dredging ship constructed in 1998. The vessel has been used in high-profile salvage and dredging operations including the investigation into the Swissair Flight 111 crash and in the Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project...
leaves SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
on its journey to MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. - 29 January
- The Queen of the NetherlandsQueen of the Netherlands (ship)The Queen of the Netherlands is a Dutch trailing suction hopper dredging ship constructed in 1998. The vessel has been used in high-profile salvage and dredging operations including the investigation into the Swissair Flight 111 crash and in the Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project...
docks at the South Wharf in Melbourne at 11:00 am after entering the heads. Approximately 25 protest boats tail it as is enters the heads and a smaller group gather on the shore at the mouth of the Yarra River and paddle on kayaks and surfboards as the ship passes under the West Gate BridgeWest Gate BridgeThe West Gate Bridge is a steel box girder cable-stayed bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It spans the Yarra River, just north of its mouth into Port Phillip, and is a vital link between the inner city and Melbourne's western suburbs with the industrial suburbs in the west and with the city...
. Seven protesters are arrested for endangering their lives after breaching maritime safety regulations. - Victorian Premier John BrumbyJohn BrumbyJohn Mansfield Brumby , is an Australian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became Premier after the resignation of Steve Bracks. He also served as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. He contested his first election...
confirms the cost of the actual dredging as $500 million (approximately €300 million). This comes after Royal Boksalis Westminster provided the figure to the European stock exchange EuronextEuronextEuronext N.V. is a pan-European stock exchange based in Amsterdam and with subsidiaries in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom. In addition to equities and derivatives markets, the Euronext group provides clearing and information services...
.
- The Queen of the Netherlands
- 30 January - Blue Wedges wins a reprieve in the Federal Court with a hearing date of 20 February 2008.
- Premier of Victoria John BrumbyJohn BrumbyJohn Mansfield Brumby , is an Australian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became Premier after the resignation of Steve Bracks. He also served as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. He contested his first election...
made an emotional plea for the Victorian public to support the project and declared that Melbourne risks becoming an "a backwater like AdelaideAdelaideAdelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
" and that Melbourne "would die a slow death" if dredging in Port Phillip Bay did not go ahead.
- Premier of Victoria John Brumby
- 5 February - Federal Environment Minister Peter GarrettPeter GarrettPeter Robert Garrett, AM, MP , is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and politician.Garrett was lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil from 1973 until its disbanding in 2002...
approves the dredging project after reviewing the Environmental Management Plan (EMP). He announces new conditions, including monitoring of water and tidal currents and contaminated sediment not being able to escape from the dredger. - 6 February - Negotiations are held between Blue Wedges and the Port of Melbourne Corporation. Limited operations are allowed to commence on 8 February until the hearing date of 20 February. The limited conditions, specified in a court order, state that only one million cubic metres (to a depth of 15.8 m (51.8 ft)) can be dredged in an 8 km (5 mi) zone in the southern channel (the PoMC had planned dredging the north of the bay first). The dredged material is to be deposited in a designated area about 3.5 km (2.2 mi) off Mount Martha.
- 8 February
- Limited dredging by the Queen of the NetherlandsQueen of the Netherlands (ship)The Queen of the Netherlands is a Dutch trailing suction hopper dredging ship constructed in 1998. The vessel has been used in high-profile salvage and dredging operations including the investigation into the Swissair Flight 111 crash and in the Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project...
begins in the southern end of the bay off RyeRyeRye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder...
at 8:30 am. - The Queen of the NetherlandsQueen of the Netherlands (ship)The Queen of the Netherlands is a Dutch trailing suction hopper dredging ship constructed in 1998. The vessel has been used in high-profile salvage and dredging operations including the investigation into the Swissair Flight 111 crash and in the Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project...
is tailed by Blue Wedges. - At about 8:15 am, ten activists on surfboardSurfboardA surfboard is an elongated platform used in the sport of surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding a breaking wave...
s and five in kayakKayakA kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...
s from the protest group Operation Quarrantine breached the 200 m (656 ft) exclusion zone (which states that "bathing, diving and the operation (including anchoring, mooring or allowing a vessel or craft to lie) of vessels and craft, are prohibited within 200 metres of the Queen of the NetherlandsQueen of the Netherlands (ship)The Queen of the Netherlands is a Dutch trailing suction hopper dredging ship constructed in 1998. The vessel has been used in high-profile salvage and dredging operations including the investigation into the Swissair Flight 111 crash and in the Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project...
whilst that vessel is under way around the Queen of the NetherlandsQueen of the Netherlands (ship)The Queen of the Netherlands is a Dutch trailing suction hopper dredging ship constructed in 1998. The vessel has been used in high-profile salvage and dredging operations including the investigation into the Swissair Flight 111 crash and in the Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project...
) in an attempt to stop it, with the Dredge coming to a stop only metres from the protesters. Two activists are detained by police. Channel deepening is delayed by 40 minutes while the protesters are cleared. All were reportedly fined $176.
- Limited dredging by the Queen of the Netherlands
- 17 February - About 1, 000 protesters congregate near Rosebud Pier to protest against the dredging operation.
- 21 February - The Federal Court of Australia adjourns Blue Wedges' case against the dredging of Port Phillip until 3 March. Limited dredging is allowed to continue during this time.
- 28 February - The Legislative CouncilVictorian Legislative CouncilThe Victorian Legislative Council, is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia; the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to...
of the Parliament of VictoriaParliament of VictoriaThe Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of The Queen, represented by the Governor of Victoria; the Legislative Council ; and the Legislative Assembly...
decide to examine the economic case for the dredging project after growing concerns about the project's financial benefit. The motion is put forward by the GreensAustralian GreensThe Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Sue PennicuikSue PennicuikSusan Margaret "Sue" Pennicuik is an Australian politician, and Greens member of the Victorian Legislative Council.-Early career:...
. - 28 March - The Federal Court of Australia dismisses the Blue Wedges case against Peter Garret approval of the project, with justice Tony North putting forward that Blue Wedges had not established that he failed to act within the law. Justice North maintains that "It is not the function of the court to make a judgement as to whether the channel deepening is a good thing or a bad thing or whether it is harmful to the environment or not", only whether the Garret acted within the bounds of the law.
- 5 April
- Dredging by the Queen of the NetherlandsQueen of the Netherlands (ship)The Queen of the Netherlands is a Dutch trailing suction hopper dredging ship constructed in 1998. The vessel has been used in high-profile salvage and dredging operations including the investigation into the Swissair Flight 111 crash and in the Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project...
begins at The Entrance. - 200 protesters gather on each side of The Entrance (at Point Nepean and Point Lonsdale) and boats, power-skis and surfboards. Police issue seven infringement notices to members of protest group Operation Quarantine for breaching the exclusion zone around the ship and lighting flares.
- Dredging by the Queen of the Netherlands
- 24 April - Dredging begins in the Yarra River by the grab dredge Goomai.
2009
- 26 November - the State Government announces the completion of works, ahead of schedule and $200 million under budget.
Environmental impact
The principal concern of the project lies in its potential for severe long-term environmental consequences. On this front, major opposition to the project has come from the community group Blue WedgesBlue Wedges
Blue Wedges is a conservation organisation in conflict with Australia's Victorian government policy to deepen shipping channels in Port Phillip and the large scale development of Ramsar listed Westernport...
, a coalition of over 65 environmental groups, which legally challenged the PoMC and the Victorian Government and was subsequently forced into bankruptcy due to the pursuit of legal costs by the state government .
During trial dredging in 2005, a rockfall incident occurred in an area of The Heads known as the Canyon, which caused some of the rock in this area to scour and disintegrate. The scouring is presently continuing, with controversy stemming from undocumented instability of the rock formation by the PoMC to predict its behaviour in the future. Much of the Port Phillip heads falls under the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park due to its significant marine diversity and marine geological formations.
Cost and economic benefits
In 1997, the cost of the project was estimated at $100 million. In 2001, the projected cost was estimated at around $200 million to $230 million and in 2004 it rose from $337 million in June to $498 million in August to $545 million in September. In 2006 In March 2007, the cost of the project was projected at $763 million and in 2008 it rose to $969 million.Also, the $500 million cost of the actual dredging work carried out by Royal Boskalis Westminster was claimed to have been kept secret by the Victorian Government and the PoMC, who entered into alliance with Royal Boskalis Westminster in 2004, for at least for 3 years. Under Victorian legislation passed in 2000, all contracts worth more than $10 million must be published - the cost of the dredging was above this at the time, yet details were not released.
The PoMC estimates that the direct economic benefits as a result of the dredging are $2 billion. However, a study commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation
Australian Conservation Foundation
The Australian Conservation Foundation is an Australian non-profit, community-based environmental organisation focused on advocacy, policy research and community outreach.-History:...
(carried out by Melbourne-based firm Economists at Large) raised questions about the economic benefits of the project. The study reported that the basis upon which the economic benefits were originally calculated had drastically changed, with given rising costs and legal proceedings, concluding it was no longer economicallly viable:
External links
- Port of Melbourne Corporation
- Channel Project - PoMC's official site for information about the channel deepening project including environmental management, project approval and benefits, media releases and dredging schedules and locations
- Office of the Environmental Monitor - Independent government environmental management monitor
- Environmetrics Australia - Specialist Environmental Statistical Consultants responsible for risk-based turbidity monitoring program
- SRA Information Technology - Environmental monitoring software solutions
- Royal Boskalis Westminster
- Blue Wedges - Anti-dredging group
- Operation Quarrantine - Anti-dredging group
- Save the Bay - Anti-Port Phillip-development group
- Save our Bay - Anti-dredging group
- Bay Vigil - Anti-dredging group
- (we) can do better - Pro-thought environmental group
- http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/projects/channel-deepening/channel_deepening.aspEPA VictoriaEnvironment Protection Authority (Victoria)EPA Victoria is a statutory authority that reports to the Victorian Parliament through the . Its purpose is to protect, care for and improve the environment for the benefit of the Victorian community.-Overview:...
- Channel Deepening Project] - review of the Channel Deepening Project - Australian Conservation Foundation - Channel Deepening Project - review of the Channel Deepening Project
- Department of Planning and Community Development - documents pertaining to the Channel Deepening Project
Channel Deepening Project Documents