About
The Queensland Government Hydraulics Laboratory (QGHL) provides technical expertise in coastal engineering and monitoring to support policy, research, planning, and disaster management. The QGHL has been providing physical modelling services for industry and research for more than four decades. It manages the storm tide and wave monitoring networks along the Queensland coastline; administers the Tweed Sand Bypassing Project; and, provides technical support to other agencies on coastal processes and modelling and the associated impacts including disaster management.
Strengths
The laboratory’s strengths include a variety of staff expertise, available facilities and equipment, and a collaborative approach to projects. For example:
- we maintain a certified ISO9001 Quality Management System for the provision of coastal physical modelling services
- we house a wide range of equipment to assist with quality control and data collection during model construction, setup, and testing
- our staff have extensive experience in collecting, processing and analysing data
- we are familiar with a range of coastal and hydrodynamic numerical modelling approaches, analytical techniques and computer programming languages
- we house registered engineering professionals and many other professionals with a range of relevant post-graduate qualifications
- we customise services to meet our client’s needs, offering a flexible and collaborative approach to all aspects of projects
- our in-house rock sorting facility enables us to readily achieve specific, custom grades for representative testing of rock structures
- our paddle lengths and basin size provide significant flexibility when determining the model scale
- we welcome potential collaborations with other hydraulics research groups and laboratories
- we welcome clients and their visitors during the project to witness model set up and test days
- we are based a short distance (about 15 minutes) from the Brisbane Airport
- our site is extensive with plenty of space for development or expansion
- we have wave and tide instrumentation, to meet client’s needs, for their projects.
Capabilities
Current capabilities of the laboratory enable us to investigate a range of coastal processes, for example:
- scaled model testing of coastal protection measures and maritime structures (e.g. seawalls, breakwaters, artificial reefs, wave screens, mooring structures, and offshore platforms);
- flume testing (e.g. cross-shore wave transformation and interaction with coastal profiles and structures)
- basin testing (3D model, e.g. long and cross-shore wave transformation and interaction with coastal profiles and structures; oblique wave approaches; marina and harbour models)
- various hydrodynamic measurements (e.g. wave and current measurements), data collection, and analyses
- wave transmission
- wave runup and overtopping measurements
- structural stability
- wave loading measurements through force gauges
- coastal and estuarine morphology
- sediment models, e.g. mobile bed and tracer investigations
- more traditional hydraulic models may also be investigated, with present maximum pump flow rates of up to 240 L/s
- servicing wave and tide instrumentation.