1. Engineers Australia
ATSE Joint Seminar
Earth, Wind, Fire, Water: Engineering
for Extreme Natural Events
Thursday 15th September 2011
1
Western Australia Division

2. Engineers Australia WA Division Earth, Wind, Fire, Water: Engineering for Extreme Natural Events 15 Sept 2011
Earth, Wind, Fire, Water: Engineering for Extreme Natural Events
Abstract
This article describes the purpose, format, content, and recommendations arising from a half-day seminar
held to consider the nature, role and future challenges of Engineering for extreme natural events. In
particular the seminar concentrated on Engineering related to the four areas of earthquake (earth), high-
speed winds (wind), bushfires (fire) and large-amplitude water waves (water). Bringing experts in the
different areas together proved to be invaluable, no more so than in the concluding panel session. The
interaction with the audience also highlighted areas of concern that had not previously been discussed.
Several themes emerged that were general across the four different event areas, most especially the
notion of risk and its meaning for different groups from Engineers through to the general public. This leads
to the question of whether properties and infrastructure more subject to inundation, fire, seismicity or soil
liquefaction have a higher cost for insurance, not be insurable or in some cases be declared unable to be
sold. For such deliberations, it was agreed that an increased understanding and level of communication
across the many different stakeholders is highly desirable.
1. Introduction
2011 has brought into sharp focus the forms and effects of extreme natural events. Earthquakes
in Christchurch and Japan, tropical cyclones in Queensland Australia and the U.S Eastern
Seaboard along with a virulent tornado season in the U.S, bushfires both nationally and around
Perth, Western Australia, the Japanese tsunami in Sendai province and flooding in Brisbane,
Queensland have caused significant fatalities and wrought much damage. The occurrence of
extreme natural events seems to be increasing and climate change may be implicated. It is
therefore timely that the role of Engineering in safeguarding life and property against the effects
of extreme natural events should be considered and assessed.
Engineers Australia (EA) and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and
Engineering (ATSE) combined to host a half-day seminar Earth Wind Fire Water – Engineering
for Extreme Events held at Curtin University, Perth on the15 th September 2011. This seminar
linked to, and developed from, the seminar City to Cape – 2100 sea-level rise mounted by
ATSE, EA and Curtin University on the 22 nd July 2010 and its arising published report [1].
The theme of the seminar reported upon herein was the contributions of Engineering to
controlling the adverse effects arising from extreme natural events: earthquake, storm, bushfire
and inundation. In tandem, the seminar served to raise awareness of humanitarian engineering,
EA‟s 2011 focus, as an crucial arm of Engineering through the preservation of life and property
in the face of, and after, devastating natural events. The seminar also sought to communicate
the special challenges associated with designing and preparing for extreme natural events.
The seminar comprised four main presentations, each focusing on one of the extreme-event
sub-themes under the shorthand titles, earth, wind, fire and water. These are reported upon in
Section 2. Speakers were asked to establish the nature of the problem; highlight challenges for
engineers, scientists, disaster managers and planners; suggest what could be done better; and
to include reference to social or management challenges and the special plight of developing
communities in such circumstances. While it was not expected that each of the four speakers
could address all of these aspects, they were addressed in one form or another through the
seminar presentations taken in their totality.
The presentations were followed by a panel discussion that drew out common threads,
identifying challenges and matters of concern, that apply broadly to Engineering and its role,
responsibilities and contributions across all extreme natural events. This discussion and the
recommendations that emerged from it are summarised in Section 3. In addition to EA and
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3. Engineers Australia WA Division Earth, Wind, Fire, Water: Engineering for Extreme Natural Events 15 Sept 2011
ATSE membership, the target audience of the seminar included people with a professional
interest in the impact of the topic and the capacity to act on the subjects of the presentations
including State government, local government, planners, academics, business and industry as
well as the members of the general public.
The overall message that emerges is clear in that engineering education and practice needs to
accommodate the prospects of a greater frequency and greater severity of natural disasters.
Decision-makers, planners, engineers and architects need to work together to increase the rate
of structural survival following earthquakes, cyclones, bushfires, deluges and coastal inundation.
Regulators and the insurance industry need to consider limiting risk, recognising the
compounding of hazard and frequency, and all parties need to re-embrace the Precautionary
Principle, based upon sound data and well-established knowledge.
2. Findings Reported
What follows is a summary of key points that emerged from each of the four presentations. Note
that the titles and abstracts of the presentation and speaker biographies are presented as
Appendix 1, while the slides for each of the presentations and the iLecture (speaker audio
synchronised with slides) of the entire seminar are available at [2].
2.1 Earth – Presenter: Dr David Brunsdon
This presentation highlighted the risks of failure, the need for risk management and the role of
engineers. „Risk‟ is a function of both likelihood and potential damage. Its management can be
summarised by the 4Rs of risk: reduction, readiness, response, recovery. Accounting for risk in
design covers the spectrum: avoid, transfer, control, accept. The focus for Engineering is usually
upon „control‟ whereas effective risk-management includes all four parts of the spectrum.
Accordingly, Engineers need to increase their involvement more widely, especially in
communicating and sharing their expertise with other professionals such as planners and
architects.
Risk-reduction strategies for infrastructure development should be applied at each of three
stages, these being (i) „Site yet to be developed‟ (site selection and planning with regard to
potential hazards such as liquefaction and fall or collapse of geologic material), (ii) „[Site]
Developed, but not built (applying necessary design considerations and building regulations),
and (iii) „Built, existing infrastructure‟ (reviewing against standards). It was noted that the
appropriate implementation of these strategies is being affected by sea-level rise for coastal
developments.
The community tends to focus on the consequences of failure, whereas engineers tend to focus
on the likelihood (e.g. the 100 year earthquake). These two outlooks need to be combined. For
example, a rating of „low seismicity‟ indicates that the average time between events is large but it
does not mean that all events are small.
The presentation highlighted some of the dilemmas of design for earthquakes. Buildings may
need to have good escape systems, but the best way to survive an earthquake is by remaining
within a resilient building during the shaking event, as falling masonry often renders the
surroundings of the building unsafe. The escape system is needed to exit the damaged building
after the event.
Building design needs to take into account post-disaster use; design for damage tolerance or
design for damage resistance. For example, hospitals, assembly halls and emergency services
buildings need to remain in operation after the event.
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4. Engineers Australia WA Division Earth, Wind, Fire, Water: Engineering for Extreme Natural Events 15 Sept 2011
Finally, the presentation addressed the role of Engineering in the aftermath of a severe
earthquake, in the first instance triaging buildings in the affected area to aid search and rescue
operations, assessing the safety of entry to „pancaked‟ buildings and, later, leading engineering
work to permit entry to collapsed buildings in the search for survivors.
2.2 Wind – Presenter: Mr Charles Boyle
This presentation focused on the need to blend traditional and modern western knowledge to
find building solutions for developing countries, using the Solomon Islands as an example. There
is a tendency in the Solomon Islands to view European housing as „better‟ as a result of
aspirations being set by former colonial administrations or present „Western‟ influences.
However, such housing is costly, complex in construction and maintenance, and can be
culturally intrusive. Instead, the appropriate use of local materials and techniques combined with
western structural-engineering knowledge can produce greatly improved and culturally
appropriate outcomes with buildings that are cyclone resistant.
Thus, for example, the lack of continuity between the floor, walls and roof of traditional buildings
leads to complete loss of the building in high winds. A blended design that utilises corrugated
steel roofing tied through the walls to the ground produces a far more resilient building, yet does
not alter the traditional floor plan and can make use of many of the local materials (e.g.
bamboo).
The presentation cautioned against „transitional‟ buildings that comprise an ad-hoc, or ill-
considered, combination of local and western materials and designs. Correct hybrid building
approaches need to be carefully engineered to yield techniques and material use that realise
complementary benefits of the traditional and the modern. Hybrid technology requires a
systematic approach that includes the documentation of traditional learning and skills,
established wisdoms and local materials that will be trialled or adapted to work effectively with
modern materials and techniques. In the subsequent design phase of hybrid buildings,
prototyping trials (at all scales, from fixing techniques through to entire building) are essential.
The roles of the administrating organisation, most effectively undertaken by NGOs, was
emphasised to ensure continuity of process, dissemination and adoption of new hybrid
techniques.
2.3 Fire – Presenter: Mr Ralph Smith
This presentation communicated the lessons learned from the Roleystone and Toodyay fires of
recent years in Western Australia. However, many of the causes of and means to reduce
damage are broadly applicable to other regions and situations. In particular, a range of data was
presented that demonstrated two main points:
Reducing the fuel loads surrounding buildings, both the Building Protection Zone (BPZ)
and Hazard Protection Zone (HPZ), by proper property management reduces the energy
release rate to a point where the fire can be controlled using water. If this is not done,
then the fire cannot be extinguished.
Regardless of the main building cladding materials (e.g. brick, iron), buildings are not fire
resistant if there are any entry points for embers. The vast majority of houses lost in the
fires studied were the result of ember attack some distance away from the main fire.
Typical ember entry arises from rooftop evaporative air-conditioners, lack of boxed eaves
and, often, a lack of common sense in the identification of vulnerabilities.
The risk of fire damage can be significantly reduced by following existing well-developed
standards and easy-to-understand guidelines for property owners. A major challenge lies in
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5. Engineers Australia WA Division Earth, Wind, Fire, Water: Engineering for Extreme Natural Events 15 Sept 2011
persuading planners to adopt, councils to enforce and the public take the actions that can
dramatically mitigate the effects of bush/forest fires.
2.4 Water – Presenter: Prof Chari Pattiaratchi
This presentation highlighted the destructive nature of a tsunami and the complicated nature of
the phenomenon. Earthquake-induced waves are refracted and reflected by subsea topography
and coastlines, leading to enormous variations in the strength of the waves as they strike
different parts of the coast. Reflected waves may in fact lead to larger tsunamis that reach a
coast many hours after the original incident waves. Understanding the topography of the
extended region is therefore a key to identifying potential tsunami events.
Meteorological tsunamis can also be induced by storms moving across the surface of the ocean
and these can be as important, through their frequency, as the more dramatic geologic
tsunamis. Thus, along the coast of Western Australia a meteorological tsunami that generates a
wave-height of one metre is very significant when it impacts the southern part of the state for
which the tidal range is approximately only 0.5 metres. Clearly, the frequency of such tsunamis
increases with the increased frequency of storm events associated with climate change.
The presentation described the advanced tsunami prediction models that are currently available
to assist in early warning and prediction of the level of likely inundation resulting from tsunamis
produced by both geological and storm events. Even with a predictive capability, implementing
coastal and beach responses remains complex with appropriate actions depending upon a
combination of factors that may be local to each particular region impacted by the tsunami.
Modelling and data-analysis also evidences the impact of sea-level rise on increasing the
strength and frequency of tsunamis, noting that the current 100 year flooding event may be
expected to occur on a monthly basis by 2050 if sea levels continue to rise at the rate they have
been doing so over the last 100 years. Accordingly more effective communication to and
understanding by planners and decision-makers for coastal regions is essential.
3. Discussion and recommendations
Several points were made during the discussions, with a focus on changes needed to the
education of scientists and engineers, and of governments and regulators and the general public
that utilise their services. Overall the key elements and recommendations are as follows.
There is no escape from natural disaster. From city centres to rural communities, from
the coast to the mountains, there is the potential for natural disasters in one or more
forms, be they inundation, earthquake, fire or storm. The effects of global warming are
increasing the likelihood of extreme events related to all but earthquake. The magnitude
and frequency of global natural disasters appears to be increasing and whatever the
cause we need to engineer to reduce the impact of compounded effects.
The problems of designing and preparing for natural disasters cannot be completely
solved using existing knowledge. This is true for developed and particularly true in
regard to developing nations, where cultural factors and resource limitations may render
modern „developed‟ technologies and practices inappropriate. Innovative thinking is
needed, and a willingness to understand local techniques and materials, in order to blend
effectively traditional and western knowledge. In developed countries, similar
considerations may also apply. Throughout, however, the continuing policies of
developers and regulators to encourage building of infrastructure close to the water table
or a flood plain possibility must be reined in.
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6. Engineers Australia WA Division Earth, Wind, Fire, Water: Engineering for Extreme Natural Events 15 Sept 2011
Service to the community is to be encouraged. Apart from the obvious community and
humanitarian outcomes, this is an ideal way for engineers, technologists and managers
to understand the competing demands and influences that must be addressed in any
truly effective solution.
Engineers and Scientists are not very well prepared for working with uncertainty. Clients
are nearly always looking for the cheapest solution, but decreasing the risk of damage
from natural disasters usually increases the costs. Such factors are often not taken into
account as a result. Professionals should be more willing to lay out the risks and
consequences, and to offer a range of solutions that mitigate risks at different levels.
Engineers need to understand and manage the balance between risk and consequence
in their design work and decisions, and to broaden their involvement to all stages in the
development of infrastructure. Current obstacles that need to be overcome include:
Engineers usually communicate through indirect channels that may be insufficiently
forceful; it is difficult for Society to understand „risk‟ as a parameter worked with by
Engineers; media reporting and language can be misleading - for example, it is
preferable to use „intensity‟ instead of „magnitude‟ in earthquake descriptions.
Government and insurance industry decisions can have a large impact on disaster
mitigation, either by taking firm action to prevent development in areas prone to disaster
(e.g. flood plains) or to make prohibitive the cost of insuring in risky situations.
4. Concluding Remarks
The design of the seminar proved to be very effective for the delivery of its expected outcomes.
Combining sometimes disparate disciplines that separately address Engineering for extreme
natural events, and bringing together experts in these areas, served to identify factors,
shortcomings and recommendations that cut across the different disciplines and which can
perhaps be better tackled at an all-of-Engineering level. Overall, the seminar concluded that
extreme natural events are becoming more frequent and that this warrants an increased focus
on the concomitant engineering challenges both within developed and developing communities
in order to find solutions that are technically effective while also being socially and commercially
appropriate.
Acknowledgement
The authors and organisers of the seminar are grateful for the support of Curtin University for
providing the seminar venue and administrative support through Ms Sucy Leong.
References
[1] R.J. Purdy, A.D. Lucey and R.E. Smith 2010. City to Cape: 2100 Sea-level Rise, Seminar Report,
Pub.: The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, ISBN 978 1 921388
17 0. (Also available as a .pdf document at www.atse.org.au)
[2] D. Brunsdon, C. Boyle, R. Smith and C. Pattiaratchi, 2011. Presentation slides and iLecture for
Earth, Wind, Fire Water: Engineering for Extreme Natural Events seminar. At:
www.engineersaustralia.wa.events and www.atse.org.au
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7. Engineers Australia WA Division Earth, Wind, Fire, Water: Engineering for Extreme Natural Events 15 Sept 2011
Appendix 1:
Titles and abstracts of speaker presentations and author biographies
EARTH
Planning and Design for Earthquakes: Consequences and Opportunities
Mr Dave Brunsdon
New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering
Engineers have a key role in reducing the risk to the community from extreme natural hazard events.
While it is implicit in much of what professional engineers do on a day to day basis as they apply design
codes, the wider context of this risk mitigation work is not always fully appreciated, particularly for complex
hazards such as earthquake.
The effective mitigation of urban earthquake risk involves consideration of the following elements:
Understanding of the components of seismic hazard, and in particular the threat of permanent
ground deformation;
Conveying seismic risk to urban planners (what the consequences are of developing on at-risk
land);
Ensuring that building codes provide for an appropriate level of seismic resistance, and function
within an effective regulatory framework;
Having appropriate arrangements (both technical and regulatory) in place for assessing and
strengthening potential at-risk older building stock;
Ensuring that both the construction and renewal of infrastructure assets includes seismic
resilience considerations
A key enabler that sits across these elements is establishing and conveying the consequences of seismic
hazards on the built environment. Professional engineers are uniquely placed to undertake this role, and
indeed have the responsibility to do so. In the current climate of strong awareness of natural hazard
threats, this represents a significant opportunity to make a difference.
This presentation will cover each of these earthquake risk mitigation aspects, drawing upon the
September 2009 Padang earthquake and the Canterbury earthquake series of 2010/11 as case study
examples.
Biography
Dave is a Fellow and Past-President of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering, and is a
member of the Australian Earthquake Engineering Society and the Institution of Engineers Australia. He
is a director of Kestrel Group Ltd, a New Zealand-based consulting practice specialising in strategic
emergency management planning for local and central government agencies and infrastructure providers.
In 2009, Dave led a team of NZ engineers to assist government agencies following the devastating
Padang earthquake in Indonesia. In September last year he co-ordinated the building safety evaluation
process immediately following the Darfield, Canterbury earthquake, and in February he led the NZ USAR
Engineering team during the response to the Christchurch aftershock. He continues to be closely involved
in activities relating to the building recovery process there.
WIND
Advancing Cyclone Resistant Construction Practices with Local Communities in the
Solomon Islands
Mr Charles Boyle
Architect/Project Manager, Curtin University
While engineered timber frame construction can be formally designed quantified and quality controlled,
traditional building practices are too varied in both the level of skill and quality of materials to be similarly
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8. Engineers Australia WA Division Earth, Wind, Fire, Water: Engineering for Extreme Natural Events 15 Sept 2011
assessed. Being as much an issue of social dynamics, anthropology and material culture, the latter falls
as much within the domain of the architect as that of the structural engineer.
While a high population growth, urban growth, land ownership and general development aspirations have
seen Solomon Islanders aspire to better housing, the economic conditions of a country still recovering
from what was in effect a civil war constrain affordability and educational opportunity.
In the informal housing sector this typically sees traditional materials used to emulate modern timber
framed building construction, or the use of modern building materials to traditional construction methods,
an approach favoured for re-construction by the government following 1985 cyclone Namu and which
stimulated Charles‟ interest in disaster mitigation through better building practice and his work with the
Australian Overseas Disaster Response Organisation, Ausaid and UNIDO.
The presentation will explore some of the dynamics of housing aspirations in Solomon Islands, and how
traditional building methods and modern technology morph into hybrid forms of construction, and the
significance this may have on the risks during cyclone events.
Starting with a basic inquiry into traditional construction practices in Solomon Islands, Charles will discuss
the work of Hybrid Technology, a not-for-profit NGO established in parallel with his own commercial
architectural practice and how it developed small disaster-resistant buildings and explored discrete
improvements to traditional buildings to successfully enhance cyclone resistance in Solomon Islands.
Biography
UK trained and registered, Charles took up a position in a small architectural practice in Solomon Islands
in the early 1980‟s. Following a major cyclone that killed over 100 people and destroyed several thousand
homes, he assisted in the establishment of a local building materials council, and established a not for
profit NGO “Hybrid Technology” to research and better understand traditional building practices and
develop methods of building using local materials and available skills.
FIRE
Lessons Learnt from the Recent Bushfires
Mr Ralph Smith
Branch Manager, Bush Fire & Environmental Protection,
Fire & Emergency Services Authority of WA
Since 2008 FESA has initiated a process following a bushfire event, were specialist staff analyse why
houses were damaged and destroyed while other houses in the vicinity did not suffer any damage.
In recent years, FESA has surveyed the bushland and houses in the Parkerville, Toodyay, Lake Clifton
and Roleystone / Kelmscott fire affected areas. These surveys have been conducted on houses that were
destroyed, houses that were damaged and houses that suffered no damage. The surveys have
considered the building construction standards, as prescribed in Australian Standard 3959 Construction of
buildings in bushfire-prone areas, the building protection zone (20 metre circle of safety), the hazard
separation zone (up to 100 metres from the house) and the landscape zone vegetation, including the fuel
load and the fire behaviour.
Land use planning and the subsequent developments that occur have a significant effect on the
emergency services that are required to try and protect those communities during a period of adversity.
Frequently these developments occur in the bushland interface areas where there are continuous bushfire
fuels within the landscapes.
To assist developers, local government and State government agencies, FESA in partnership with the
Department of Planning and the WA Planning Commission have developed and published Planning for
Bush Fire Protection Guidelines. The 2010 guidelines have been developed in accordance with clause 6
of State Planning Policy 3.4 Natural Hazards and Disasters (SPP 3.4). The guidelines replace DC 3.7 Fire
Planning and the first edition of Planning for Bush Fire Protection (2001), which were released by the
WAPC and FESA in December 2001. A current and second edition of the Planning for Bush Fire
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9. Engineers Australia WA Division Earth, Wind, Fire, Water: Engineering for Extreme Natural Events 15 Sept 2011
Protection Guidelines, was released in 2010. The guidelines have been linked to Australian Standard
3959 – Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas which were published in 1999 and revised in
2009, 2010 and 2011.
FESA provides advice on planning developments, separation distances between the house and the
vegetation, construction standards, fuel loads and vegetation management. These are all factors in the
survivability of houses attacked by a bushfire. The analysis by FESA seeks to identify why the houses are
damaged or destroyed, if there are any weaknesses in the advice provided by FESA and how the damage
or destruction can be avoided in the future.
Biography
Ralph commenced working in the mid-1970s as a field officer with the Forests Department. Ralph worked
for 26 years with the Forests Department and the Department of Conservation and Land Management. In
2001 Ralph moved to the Fire and Emergency Services Authority as the Manager of Wildfire Prevention.
In 2004 Ralph was promoted to the position of Branch Manager of Bush Fire and Environmental
Protection within the Fire and Emergency Services Authority.
Ralph has extensive knowledge and understanding of bush fire behaviour and the impact that the fire
behaviour can have on buildings and the environment. Ralph has served as an Australian Fire and
Emergency Services Authorities Council (AFAC) representative on the technical working group for the
“Australian Standard 3959 Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas”. Ralph has also been a co-
author of the planning guidelines document “Planning for Bush Fire Protection” for both the 2001 and
2010 editions.
Ralph and his team have undertaken analysis of the complex bush fire behaviour and house loss
assessments for all of the recent significant Western Australian bush fire events. Ralph was also invited
to work with the Victorian‟s undertaking bush fire investigations during the Black Saturday fires.
Ralph‟s work has been recognised with a number of State and National awards for bush fire arson
prevention, and the research and publications associated with the “Bush Fire Management Guidelines for
Western Australia”.
WATER
Coastal Hazards and the Design of Coastal Structures
Winthrop Professor Charitha Pattiaratchi
University of Western Australia
The importance and impacts of coastal hazards, particularly extreme events such as tsunamis and storm
surges, has been illustrated very graphically through recent events such as the Japanese earthquake in
March and Cyclone Yasi. During both of these events, extreme inundation of coastal areas occurred
resulting in significant damage to infrastructure. In this presentation, different processes which contribute
to coastal sea level variability leading to extreme events will be reviewed with an emphasis on Western
Australia. It is shown that these processes occur over a range timescales ranging from seconds to
centuries and are subject to long-term variability some of which, such as those due to astronomical tides,
may be predicted.
The action of the wind on the sea surface generates surface gravity waves with periods of the order of
10s. Although the swell waves are generated in the deeper ocean they have a major influence in coastal
regions. Globally, the astronomical forces of the Sun and the Moon result in tidal variability with periods of
12 and 24 hours as well as tidal modulations with periods up to 18.6 years. In many regions, the effects of
the tides dominate the water level variability – however, in regions where the tidal effects are small other
processes also become important in determining the local water level. In this presentation, sea level data
from Fremantle (tidal range ~0.5m), which has one of the longest time series records in the southern
hemisphere, and other sea level recoding stations from Western Australia are presented to highlight the
different processes ranging from seiches, tsunamis (generated through earthquakes and thunderstorms),
tides, storm surges, continental shelf waves, annual and inter-annual variability. As the contribution from
each of these processes is of the same order of magnitude they all contribute to the extreme sea levels.
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10. Engineers Australia WA Division Earth, Wind, Fire, Water: Engineering for Extreme Natural Events 15 Sept 2011
The majority of existing coastal infrastructure in Australia was designed to tolerate or at least survive
occasional effects from extreme sea levels (e.g., 1 in 100 or l in 1,000 year prospects of inundation). As a
result of coastal hazards, including mean sea level rise due to global warming, these designed tolerances
will be exceeded with increasing frequency. The implications for changes in return periods on coastal
infrastructure in Western Australia will be discussed.
Biography
Charitha Pattiaratchi is a Winthrop professor of coastal oceanography at the School of Environmental
Systems Engineering, the University of Western Australia. His research interests are in coastal physical
oceanography and coastal sediment transport, using field and numerical modelling techniques. He
obtained a BSc (joint honours in oceanography and applied mathematics), MSc and PhD (both in
oceanography) from the University of Wales, Swansea, UK. He has been at UWA since 1988.
Currently his affiliations includes Leader, Australian National Facility for Ocean Gliders, Node leader, West
Australian Integrated Marine Observation System (WAIMOS), Chair, Numerical modelling, forecasting and
scenario development working group of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System, Chair, Physics of
Estuaries and Coastal Seas International conference.
He has supervised over 100 honours students and 30 postgraduate students and published over 100
refereed journal articles.
Note: Photograph of the speakers (during the panel session) below
(L to R): Prof Charitha Pattiaratchi; Mr Ralph Smith; Mr David Brunsdon; Mr Charles Boyle
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11. Engineers Australia WA Division
712 Murray Street
West Perth WA 6005
Phone: (08) 9321 3340
Fax: (08) 9481 4332
Email: wa@engineersaustralia.org.au
Web: www.engineersaustralia.org.au/wa
Western Australia Division