Footbridge Abutment Protection, Chermside West and Bridgeman Downs

An unprotected abutment on a creek bank is where storm flows start undermining a new bridge. When Brisbane City Council replaced its pedestrian bridges at Shelgate Street, Chermside West and Tallowwood Place, Bridgeman Downs, we armoured the creek banks at all four abutments with rock over geotextile. We also reshaped the ground to fall water away from both bridges and laid 135 square metres of new concrete path.

Rock protection disappears the moment it is finished. Once the bank is reinstated, nobody can see the grading, the source or the profile, so the records are the only evidence. A rock sample was photographed and accepted before work began, and every delivery was checked back against it with its own quarry certificate. The geotextile underneath holds the bank material in place and lets water through, which keeps the armour sitting on the bank it protects.