Nielsen Park, Vaucluse: Full cost of Shark Beach seawall upgrade project revealed

The cost blowout of the state government’s besieged construction works of a seawall at a popular eastern suburbs beach has been revealed.

Nielsen Park, September 26 2022.

The full extent of a cost blowout of the former Liberal state government’s construction works of a seawall at a popular eastern suburbs beach has been revealed.

The NSW Government has paid Delaney Civil – the contractor awarded the tender in 2021 to undertake upgrade works on the Shark Beach seawall at Nielsen Park, Vaucluse – about $5.3m of the $6.7m allocated to the project.

Now, a mere $1.5m of the budget remains to complete the project which has blown 16 months past its original completion date.

Delaney Civil was awarded the contract in late 2021 but was dumped from the project in January, with reports engineering disagreements about elements of the seawall’s construction were behind the termination.

The seawall had been severely damaged by flooding in 2016 and the government determined the old 160m concrete seawall would be demolished and replaced with a new structure capable of withstanding adverse weather conditions and sea level rises.

Construction works at Nielsen Park as of September, 2022.

Shark Beach, Nielsen Park is a popular hotspot for tourists to the eastern suburbs. Picture: Monique Harmer.

Construction began in April 2022 but was besieged by problems, including the discovery of asbestos beneath the wall, and heavy rain over the winter months.

Amid growing frustration by residents as work at the site appeared to grind to a halt, the Department of Planning and Environment revised its timeline, pushing the expected completion from December 2022 to April 2023.

Signs erected at closed Nielsen Park, September, 2022.

Shark Beach at Nielsen Park, with construction of the seawall, January 2023.

The Department confirmed about $1.1m was paid to the former contractor for work undertaken prior to contract termination.

A further $2.8m was outlaid for the removal and appropriate disposal of asbestos contaminated soil, and an additional $1.4m for site protection works of the beach and dune areas.

A new construction contractor, Cherrie Civil Engineering, was brought in to complete the works with the completion date, as listed on the Department’s website, being April 2024.

The rest of the project has been costed at an estimated $11.7m, bringing the total cost of the project about $17m.

The Department has confirmed the rest of the works would be funded by a NSW Government’s Treasury Managed Fund insurance claim from icare, the state government’s insurance agency – which is funded largely through annual government agency contributions.

“Cherrie Civil Engineering has mobilised plant and equipment onto the site and commenced concrete piling upon this technically complex project,” a Department spokesman said.

He said the contractor’s latest program forecasted completion of the seawall’s concrete bleachers and removal of the protective sheet piles no earlier than February 2024.

“This is subject to adverse weather conditions and any unknown latent site conditions, with full site completion including promenade works and landscaping forecast for April 2024,” the spokesman said.