MANDORAH MARINE FACILITY INTERTIDAL ROCK SHELF
Intertidal Rock Shelf,
a nature-based design balances infrastructure performance with coastal regeneration
THE CHALLENGE
The Mandorah Marine Facility is a major upgrade on Darwin Harbour’s western shoreline, integrating infrastructure into a sensitive intertidal zone.
The original design extended breakwaters into soft sediments, requiring heavy dredging and imported rock, creating risks of complexity, higher emissions, and lasting ecosystem impacts.
OUR SOLUTION
SMC Marine designed an alternative layout, with SeaO2 advising on a hybrid shoreline protection system using a mangrove-compatible intertidal rock shelf.
Positioning the harbour infrastructure on the existing rock shelf cut dredging and material needs, while creating conditions for passive mangrove colonisation through sediment trapping, root oxygenation, and hydrodynamic shelter.
This nature-based approach balances performance with coastal regeneration and broader ecological benefits.
RESULTS SO FAR
The redesign has cut imported rock volumes by nearly 50%, with the intertidal rock shelf already supporting natural mangrove recruitment.
It has improved wave attenuation and sediment stability within the harbour, allowing the coastal infrastructure to work with natural processes for long-term resilience.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land and sea on which we live and work. We pay respect to Aboriginal elders past and
present and acknowledge Australia’s First Nation peoples for caring for this country and our ocean for over 60,000 years.