Glen Bowen before.
NEW LIFE FOR ERODING GULLY
RECLAIMING ERODED LAND
Fast facts
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1,482t of sediment expected to be
saved each year.
Earthworks completed by local
contractors.
Unique collaboration with
members of the Bowen Women’s
Prison Working Group.
LDC’s second large-scale gully
remediation.
On-contour rock check dams were
constructed across the bed of the
drainage basins to assist in slowing the
flow of wate . The design also included
reshaping three incised linear gullies
and one gully scarp.
A gully, covering more than 3ha of Glen
Bowen Station has always been “off-
limits” to graziers Christian and Melissa
Cormack. The existing earthen bund around
the head of the gully was reinforced
to manage overland flows and utilise
excess cut from reshaping works.
That land – an extensive gully system
right next to the Bowen River – was
an eyesore and not contributing to
production on the property. The reshaped surfaces were treated
with gypsum applications, spread with
topsoil stripped from the footprint
of the works, or borrowed from
other sources on the property, mulch
applications, seed-sowed, fertilised,
and with coir net matting.
Worse than being completely
unproductive, the land was rapidly
disappearing downriver, contributing
up to 1,500t of fine sediment annually
to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
Dubbed “Gully 1”, it had an actively
eroding footprint of about 3.36ha.
The perimeter was about 1.1km and
the banks of the gully scarp were, on
average, 2 – 2.5m high.
Earthworks were carried out by JRT
Group using local subcontractor
Colls Earthmoving and the area
was revegetated by Revegetation
Contractors.
Neilly Group Engineering was engaged
to design a solution. In a unique local collaboration,
members of the Bowen Women’s Prison
Working Group assisted by helping to
treat reshaped surfaces.
The design involved reshaping
complex gully networks that formed Remediation effort is expected to save
1,482t each year, however this is also
Glen Bowen before.
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two stabilised, free-draining basins.
The reshaping involved bank battering
and topography reshaping through cut
and fill, and compaction earthworks
operations.
“Ever since we came here, it’s
always been something we wanted
to fix, but we didn t know how. I
spend a lot of time at the site and
encourage others to get involved
in similar projects if they are given
the opportunity.”
Christian Cormack,
Glen Bowen Station
influenced by rainfall, so those t ends
will take longer to detect.
CSIRO water quality monitoring is
being carried out on the treatment site,
as well as at a control site for reference.
The water quality data will be the
greatest indicator of success for the
project.
Following their involvement in the gully
project, the Cormacks are achieving
other positive land management
practice changes on their property.
Through the LDC’s BBB Grazier Support
program, they completed a riparian
fencing project that included fencing
off riverfront country and installing
off-stream watering points to allow the
banks to restabilise and revegetate.