Foreshore project will 'stink'
Foreshore project will 'stink'
A respected former city council engineer has predicted the planned Perth waterfront inlet will suffer from a build-up of mud and "stink" and that rerouting Riverside Drive around the new water body will be disastrous.
Joining renewed public debate on the Barnett Government's proposal - including comments by the newly formed City Gatekeepers group - Amos Machlin said the Swan River was not a fast flowing river, mud would build up in the inlet and would not get flushed out.
His comments come as photographs taken from a helicopter by _The Weekend West _have revealed how the river inlet will sit in the city landscape.
Guided by lines etched into the Esplanade by the waterfront project team, the area within those lines shows the landmass to be dug out when construction starts in April.
Mr Machlin said he supported redevelopment of the Perth foreshore. But he believed there would be no tidal movement along the length of the inlet. He said while navigational channels were deeper, elsewhere mud could be 1m below the surface.
"The mud that will build up over time . . . won't get flushed out," he said. "In time, and with low tide, the mud will be up to the surface and the area will stink."
Mr Machlin, who worked at the City of Perth for 34 years, including 10 as chief engineer until 1986, said this happened "virtually every summer" before the Narrows Interchange was built in the 1960s.
"In my assessment, those conditions are going to be repeated in this inlet," he said.
However, Planning Minister John Day said information from water quality and groundwater monitoring in 2010 was used to develop a "hydrodynamic flushing model" and influence inlet design. Water quality monitoring would continue when the inlet was built.
Mr Day said the project was receiving the best possible planning, design and construction expertise.
Mr Machlin, who is also a former president of the Local Government Engineers Association of WA, said diverting the 30,000 cars a day using Riverside Drive around the inlet would affect the movement of pedestrians and "negate one part of the whole purpose of this investment".
Mr Day said traffic travelling past the city would be redistributed to a widened Graham Farmer Freeway. The Government was also working on a city-wide transport plan.Follow thewest.com.au on Twitter
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27 Comments
Barnett and Day are going to wreck our city, they couldn't run a brothel!
2 RepliesLook in the employment section of The West, see what local govt engineers get paid vs private, that's the difference in quality as well.
ReplyTime the experts spoke out before our city is ruined.
ReplyOne doesn't need to be an expert to figure out that if a busy arterial road is cut an alternative route should be ready. Where is the alternative? Crossing the City during the peak traffic is already a nightmare. Deal ith the existing problem before compounding it. And it is likely to stink.
ReplyWell it's our fault...we voted these half brains in..every single one of them. Best to keep on the side of caution. Once gone...it's gone forever DONT LET THEM RUIN our beautiful City.
ReplyThe only thing that stinks is the number of rubbish articles coming up about this project. Clutching at straws it appears.
ReplyI wrote to the Premiers office and the minister for planning and said the exact same thing, it will be like a sewer and taking away a major route from the east to the west of our city will cause major problems. If they think the tunnel is sufficient they are kidding themselves. I bet when that was...
ReplyIf this bloke worked with the PCC for 34 years the last 10 of which he was chief engineer I don’t think we can place much credibility on his predictions.
ReplyI am not a fan of Mr Barnett's vision for this, but if it goes ahead, they should then make St Georges Terrace one way westbound and Wellington St one way east bound to try and keep traffic moving - the tunnel and GFF cannot cope with an extra 40,000 cars a day!
ReplyIT IS TIME THE ENGINEERS CAME CLEAN ABOUT THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE ESPLANADE AS I DO NOT AGREE WITH IT.MY HUSBAND WAS RIGHT WHEN HE COMMENTED ON IT A FEW WEEKS AGO .GAYLE 28-01-2012
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