Program 3: Engineering
PROJECT 3.4: ENGINEERING, DESIGN AND APPLICATION
(Prof A Johnston, JCU)
The studies in this project are carried out by prestigious
postgraduate award students engaged by the Centre.
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Darren Oemcke is testing the effectiveness of ozonation,
ultraviolet light, and filtration as barriers to prevent potentially
destructive foreign organisms being discharged into tropical waters
via ships' ballast.
Photo courtesy JCU. |
The Dynamic Response of a Tourist Pontoon in a Coral Reef Lagoon
This has been successfully modelled and the team are now installing
an Inertial Measurement Unit at Norman Reef to verify the results, with
the valuable assistance of a tourist operator. A data acquisition program
has been written in-house which will simultaneously record the dynamics
of the pontoon and the wave measurements (Project 3.1) being recorded
at the same site.
Investigation of Load Capacities of Mooring Anchor Systems
The design of foundations for structures that are placed on the GBR
is uncertain since the structural strength of calcareous soils is poorly
understood. With expansion of the tourism industry there is an increased
need for such structures and for research in this topic.
In collaboration with a local company, eight screw anchors were sunk
into a test bed and subjected to uplift, lateral and cyclic loads. The
experiments indicated that load capacity may be diminished as a result
of cyclically applied loads (wind and wave action on pontoons and boats).
The economic and ecological risks posed to Australia by exotic species
entering the environment through discharge of ballast water from international
shipping is well documented, particularly in southern waters.
- The objectives of this new task are:
- to identify foreign marine organisms and contaminants in ballast
water that threaten resources in the GBR region and the Queensland coastal
areas;
- to identify disinfection methods for both land and ship based treatment
of ballast water which effectively destroy these organisms, consistent
with the requirements of the draft Australian Ballast Water Management
Strategy; and
- to design a full scale pilot plant for the treatment of ballast water.
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