Hall Contracting to build seawall in Republic of the Marshall Islands

A Sunshine Coast developer will build a $70m seawall in a remote and low-lying island nation that was once the centre of nuclear arms testing to protect it from rising sea levels.

Hall Contracting will build a seawall in the Republic of the Marshall Islands to help the low-lying island nation guard against rising sea levels.

A Sunshine Coast business will build a $70m coastal protection system to protect a remote and low-lying island chain from rising sea levels.

Hall Contracting will deliver a 1.8km seawall in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

The developer will travel to the nation about halfway between Australia and Hawaii in early 2025 to construct the wall on behalf of its government.

The remote island nation shares maritime borders with Nauru and Kiribati and has a resident population of about 55,000 people.

It is also home to the Bikini Atoll where the US tested nuclear weapons after World War II.

The fireball of a hydrogen bomb lights the Pacific sky a few seconds after the bomb was released over the Bikini Atoll in 1956. Picture: AP Photo, File

Hall Contracting chief executive Cameron Hall said most of the Marshall Islands’ land was less than two metres above sea level and the infrastructure would help protect residents from rising sea levels and wave overtopping.

“As one of the world’s smallest and lowest-lying nations, RMI is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and severe weather events,” he said.

In 2019 freak waves hit the shore in Majuro, the capital city of the Marshall Islands and more than 200 people were forced to flee their homes. Picture: Hilary HOSIA / AFP

The project was worth about $70m and was funded by the World Bank and Green Climate Fund.

Mr Hall said sea level rise could bring “more frequent and intense coastal flooding, severe coastal erosion, and permanent submergence” of some parts of the Marshall Islands.

“The new seawall will be constructed on the Ebeye atoll, using approximately 65,000 tonnes of armour rock to minimise erosion and greatly reduce inundation from storm surges,” he said.

Mr Hall said Hall Contracting was well-versed in undertaking climate change adaptation works in low-lying Pacific Island nations because it had recently delivered the first stage of the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project.

The work in Tuvalu included a foreshore reclamation area and breakwater, a 655m berm top barrier, a seawall and more.

“The works have provided new, elevated land for the Tuvaluan people and will help to safeguard community members and infrastructure against wave overtopping events for many years to come,” Mr Hall said.

The developer’s move comes as the Australian government is spending more on fighting climate change.

One of the biggest investments is the Future Made in Australia program, which aims to reduce the country’s dependence on imported essential materials and help communities cash in by keeping jobs on Aussie soil.