When Canal Walls Fail

Prevent revetment wall failure with regular maintenance

It is a fact that canal walls and revetment walls have a life expectancy, no wall will prevail forever. However, there are maintenance procedures which can be carried out to extend the life of your wall.

Without maintenance, your wall is like your teeth. If you neglect your teeth eventually decay and obstructions will cause teeth to loosen or rot causing pain and ultimately an extraction will be required. However, if you attend to regularly clean, floss, and go to the dentist twice a year, you can avoid the bigger issues, and most certainly hold onto your choppers and your bank balance for a lot longer.

The same applies to canal walls. If you sort out the arising issues and get regular canal wall maintenance attended to, it will most certainly extend the life of the wall.

If your wall has not had maintenance done for many years, you can expect a few issues will need to be dealt with upfront. Our ongoing canal wall maintenance program will keep your wall functioning and serviceable, and avoid the major outlays that can pile up due to lack of attention.

The Canal Wall Doctor’s canal wall maintenance is now available in Gold Coast, Brisbane, Redcliffe, and the Sunshine Coast.

Weep hole repairs

On this wall, you can not even see the weephole. It is encased with barnacles and oysters and is no longer allowing the water behind the wall to freely flow out. This leads to pressure build up behind the wall.

After the initial maintenance was carried out you can see big results already.

This wall has now had the weep hole cleared and water is flowing again. The Canal Wall Doctor also places a cover over, or a plug in, the weephole to prevent larger crabs using the hole to access the back of the wall. Crabs love to dig and are a major cause subsidence along the canals and waterways of south east Queensland. Covers or plugs also prevent material from escaping from behind the wall.

Weepholes blockages and maintenance issues

Blocked by a combination of oysters, calcification behind the wall blocking flow and in some cases incorrect or aging plug and filter systems which are in fact now inhibiting flow. The original filters behind are  failing allowing material to come forward.  

This plug below is has been installed to correct his some time ago.  It is ill fitted and needs new filter and has possible calcification breakup behind the weephole. The owner has tried to correct the issues however weepholes are not a one off fix, they require ongoing maintenance. If this is left, the filter will not filter, it will block.

Many of the plugs in this particular wall are being pushed out. The water is building up behind and forcing them back out of the weephole. The plug should be sitting firmly inside the hole. Marine grade filters need to be used.

Revetment wall maintenance program

As part of our maintenance program, The Canal Wall Doctor installs and regularly replaces geo-filters in the weepholes which prevent erosion while allowing water to escape.

When walls are left without maintenance, subsidence, blocked weepholes, undermining of footing/toe can all cause the wall to collapse. This leaves your property open to erosion from tide and rain.  

Concrete pathways behind revetment walls - the hidden danger

Please take a minute to watch this video if you have concrete behind your revetment wall.

Maintenance and monitoring is so very important to catch issues like this before they impact on your beautiful waterfront property.

Your local revetment wall repair and maintenance specialists

Let The Canal Wall Doctor take the worry out of keeping your revetment wall strong and functioning well, contact our team to set up your scheduled maintenance program today.

The Canal Wall Doctor are a targeted arm of Gold Coast Barges who have recognised the need for regular attention to the maintenance of in the ageing canal walls of the South East Queensland.

It is a wall!! What can go wrong?  .... short answer.... plenty!

Homeowners insure their home, contents, and their cars but think nothing about the wall that protects their home from battering of the tide 24 hours a day as well as seasonal floodwaters and King tides.

‍Call The Canal Wall Doctor and get your maintenance schedule in place today on 0427 949 163.