Southfront

Hello 👋 We have gained some new followers recently, so we thought it might be a good time to introduce ourselves a little. We are Southfront, a civil engineering consultancy specialising in stormwater and floodplain management.  We have been delivering projects for our clients since 2011 when Drew Jacobi founded Southfront to deliver high quality work with transparency and responsive, client focussed communication. Our team are passionate and enthusiastic about what they do and have cutting edge skills in stormwater and flood modelling, assessment and design. Our work is inspired by the idea that intelligent engineering can help us meet the challenges that face us today, from climate change to evolving community needs.  We work with local and state government and private industry to deliver these services: - Stormwater management plans - Water Sensitive Urban Design - Floodplain mapping - Hydrological assessments, strategy and advice - Infrastructure design You can visit our website to learn more https://southfront.com.au/ or contact us at [email protected] See you around 👋 #Stormwater #CivilEngineering #Adelaide #Floodplain

Do you love civil design? ✔ Here's a fantastic opportunity to join our talented team! https://lnkd.in/g3MQ29ia

The Sturt River/Warri Parri Channel in Adelaide is iconic. Would it be built in 2024 with current best practices? Probably not. But was it transformational for the development of Adelaide's south western suburbs? Absolutely. Beginning in Upper Sturt and ending at Patawalonga Creek the river serves a catchment of over 120 square kilometres. The urban channel, along with a flood control dam in the Sturt Gorge, was constructed in the early 1970s as an outcome of the South Western Suburbs Drainage Scheme. Historically, the Sturt River was a meandering stream, passing through the suburbs of Marion.   The stream supported a diverse ecosystem, operating as a system of deep pools and wetlands. Following European settlement, the low lying areas surrounding the stream were typically market gardens, where the freshwater and alluvial soils supported agriculture. As housing development in the Marion and surrounding area boomed across the 1950s, flooding of property became a frequent issue. The drainage scheme was developed in response and the concrete channel was constructed, designed to pass roughly 170m3/s in the downstream reach. The engineering that went into designing the channel was innovative at the time, managing different flow profiles along the length of the channel. A scale model was used to validate the design, and to optimise the hydraulics at the trunk drain discharge points into the river. Unfortunately, trends at the time favoured heavy engineering solutions and did not respect the cultural and environmental values of the stream. If we went back in time and designed this scheme over, how do you think it might be different with the knowledge and awareness we now have? Historic Photo of Marion Road, Credit: City of Marion 

We have the best clients 💙 It has been a pleasure working with the City of Victor Harbor to deliver their Stormwater Management Plan and many other stormwater projects over the years!

And our office Olympic sweep ends in last minute upset! While there was a clear leader in the tally for the majority of the tournament, the leader board was turned around in the final few days with some teams experiencing a second wind. The last five days of the Olympics saw our Director Drew Jacobi rapidly climb up the medal tally, to finish with Gold thanks to Japan and their total of 20 gold medals. Callum McCartney wins the Silver thanks to continued success by the Aussies and Eike Michael Hamers was not far behind for Bronze after Germany came from no where to reach a total of 12 gold medals. Winner Drew says "Congratulations to my team combination of Japan/Spain/Belgium/Ukraine/Chinese Taipai/Uganda!  They came through for me in late flurry of medals over the last couple of days - I cheered Japanese B-girl Ami (Breakdancing) - too good for Raygun - and Kotaro Kiyooka (wrestling) home for gold medals. The last couple of weeks has been a lot of fun tuning in to keep up to date on their exploits." Let the countdown to 2028 begin!

Did you know that there are gates on Barker Inlet Wetlands that can be closed in the event of a chemical spill, protecting the ecologically sensitive mangroves of North Arm Creek? In October 2022 we successfully delivered the SMA approved Barker Inlet Central Stormwater Management Plan for the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. The Barker Inlet Wetlands are a critical part of the Barker Inlet Central stormwater catchment, and therefore a significant consideration in this SMP. The wetlands are a complicated system, having many interconnected ponds and being tidally influenced, with several sets of penstock gates separating sea water from the freshwater ponds. They are also home to a number of fish and bird species. Our familiarity with the Barker Inlet Wetlands was invaluable in the development of this SMP. Our local knowledge and our involvement in the design of the Northern Connector allowed us to scope stormwater management measures that would protect this vulnerable system. Modelling this system required careful consideration of many factors, including upstream catchment times of concentration and the joint probability of stormwater runoff and the tide. Some of the project recommendations included raingardens and bioretention basins within the wider catchment, improving the quality of water entering the wetlands. Protecting and enhancing environmental systems is a priority in all work that we do. #BarkerInletWetlands #StormwaterManagement #PAE #WaterQualityImprovement #TUFLOW Photo credit: City of Port Adelaide Enfield

What if Adelaide was to hold the Olympics in 2036? In 2015, The Greater Paris Sanitation Authority began working on updating the cities sewer systems and announced plans of making the Seine safely swimmable for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games 🏊 Improved water quality was achieved by the upgrading of wastewater facilities, modernisation of the existing sewer systems and correcting misconnections in which wastewater was being discharged into rainwater systems. Back home in Adelaide, the construction of the Torrens weir in 1881 transformed the Karrawirra Pari/River Torrens into the Torrens Lake.  Swimming in the Torrens Lake became a popular way of escaping the South Australian heat and was also the location of regular swimming events such as the annual “Swim-Through Adelaide” events held from 1913-1969.  The final “Swim-Through Adelaide” event was held in 1969 and signified the end of swimming in the Karrawirra Pari/River Torrens due to poor water quality resulting from industrialisation and the damming of Karrawirra Pari/River Torrens. If it was announced that Adelaide was to host the Olympics in 2036, what actions would be needed to improve the water quality of Karrawirra Pari/River Torrens to allow for safe swimming again?  Do you think we could achieve it? Leave a comment below 👇 #RiverTorrens #WaterQuality #Adelaide #Paris2024 Photo credit: State library of South Australia

Another site visit, another awesome view! Callum McCartney our Senior Civil Designer was out walking a design site in the Port Willunga area yesterday. Check out the scenery... beautiful ☀️ Our job takes us to all corners of the community and we love it!

We've got Olympics fever over here 😅 And our office sweep is in full swing! Today we see 🥇 Bonnie taking the lead thanks to the Republic of Korea and their gold medals in Archery and Shooting, and Canada with Gold in Judo and Swimming.   Drew follows in at second place thanks to Japan and their success across Judo and Skateboarding. Callum sits in third after Australia dominates Swimming, as usual. What fun it has been to tune into some different events and keep track of our teams! 

What a view! Some days we are very grateful for the opportunity to get out of the office, get some sunshine and take in some beautiful scenery. We were lucky to get out onto site at Mannum this week, and took in the views from the limestone clifftop across the River Murray. We are working with Mid Murray Council on improving stormwater management of township drainage that naturally discharges towards the clifftops. Its a long way down - well over 10m! We are scoping methods to mitigate flows, promote infiltration where sensible and utilise existing assets to their full potential in order to preserve the natural aesthetic of this stunning location.