Raby Bay Waterways

The Raby Bay Canal Estate was constructed in the 1980’s and into the 90’s. Construction of the estate involved the excavation and earth filling along a section of the Raby Bay shoreline and shallow waters.
The Estate now comprises approximately 12 kilometres of canal tidal waterways and two main access channels out into Moreton Bay. Most resident properties have direct canal access at the rear of the property, with a private floating pontoon for mooring the resident’s personal vessel.
Redland City Council (RCC) is responsible for the ongoing monitoring and maintenance of the canal waterways. The co-operative ongoing working relationship between RBRA and RCC is maintained at a high level. This ensures that the Estate continues to be an enjoyable place to live and for excellent boating recreation.

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Revetment Walls and Canal Maintenance

Each canal fronting property has a permanent concrete revetment wall that protects and retains the canal’s upper earth embankment. There is a layer of rock armouring that protects the tidal zone of the embankment. The revetment walls have a limited life and require regular inspection and maintenance.
Revetment walls are designed for a specific engineering purpose, so have limited capacity to support additional loading, which may cause premature wall failure.
Because of the significant costs of repairing and maintaining revetment walls and rock slopes, residents should ensure they don’t do anything to undermine the structural integrity of either the revetment wall or the rock slope.
This includes attaching structures to the wall (e.g. mooring cleats and deck structures), removing rock for say installation of a jet ski dock, planting vegetation or installing landscaping materials within 9 metres of a revetment wall.
Property owners are responsible for ensuring all development within 9 metres of any revetment wall is approved by RCC.
RCC carries out regular on-site survey inspections, in-ground monitoring of embankments and annual aerial surveys on the Raby Bay canals, revetment walls and rock slopes. These inspections provide the necessary information to facilitate annual maintenance and repair programs.
Property owners should also monitor the condition of revetment walls adjoining their properties and report any signs of defects to the RCC. RCC which will then arrange a site visit in response to any report. This can help prevent further damage and reduce the costs of future repairs.
Any maintenance or repair work required on either the revetment walls or rock slope is undertaken by the RCC. This provides the property owners re-assurance that repair work will be performed should problems arise and that repairs will be to a consistently high standard.
The RCC levies a “differential rate” on all property owners of canal fronting properties to fund any revetment wall repair work.
Other maintenance works and the associated costs, including canal bed-levelling to maintain a minimum water depth of 1.9 metres Lowest Astronomical Tide (L.A.T.), canal cleaning and redressing the rock revetment slopes are met from RCC’s “general revenue” accounts.
It should be noted that water depths in some canals vary from 2 to 4 metres below LAT. These deeper sections create capacity for siltation to occur without impacting vessel navigation.