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Riding the wave of success with Australia’s first man-made surfing lagoon

Urbnsurf Tullamarine surfing lagoon

Client

Urbnsurf Tullamarine

Location

Melbourne, Victoria

About The Project

The Urbnsurf Tullamarine project delivered Australia’s first major man-made surfing lagoon. The wave generating equipment was provided by Spanish technology provider WaveGarden, while the local team developed all the other facilities to create a world-class surfing centre near Melbourne Airport.

The surf lagoon has been regularly selected as the best man-made surfing location in the world, despite fierce competition from around the globe.

CNF was engaged at pre-feasibility stage to:

  • Undertake the initial technology review in Spain;
  • Undertake multiple studies including a local compliance review for the electrical and mechanical plant, cost estimating, services design and facility layout. 

During the delivery stage, CNF undertook detailed electrical design and water treatment concept design and supported the construction of the facility.

Resources and Links

Major Achievements

  • The design of the facility’s earthing system was undertaken by in-house Finite Element Analysis (FEA) modelling software to ensure public safety in the wet environment. A peak touch potential of 12 Volts was achieved within the As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) region calculated by Argon.
  • Achieved regulatory approval for recreational activity in the 25Ml lagoon despite the lack of regulatory framework for water bodies of this size.

Project Innovations

  • Water treatment process units included filtration, UV, ozone and chlorine dosing to achieve a residual disinfectant level of 0.5mg/litre to minimise the chlorine dose.
  • The wave generation equipment was used to achieve perfect mixing of the lagoon for efficiency of chemical dosing.
  • Compliance to IEC 61439 instead of AS3439 was used so that electrical panels could be manufactured by the technology provider without reference to the local standard.

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