29 November 2023

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Trade Net zero Green economy Success stories

Marine contractor helps protect Pacific Islands from rising sea levels

Hall Contracting specialises in coastal dredging, and its expertise is helping the Pacific Islands meet the challenge of rising sea levels. The Queensland-based company combines high engineering standards with a commitment to training the local population.

Hall Contracting recently led a project to reclaim 7 hectares of land in the Tuvalu capital, Funafuti. By creating a strip of land that is 1.5 metres higher than the natural level of Funafuti, the project protects the capital against storm surges and delivers long-term climate resilience.

The emerging green economy is really presenting great opportunities for Australia to showcase its abilities, particularly in infrastructure.

Australians are known forhigh quality safe construction techniques and also good environmental compliance. We're also known for our ability to partner with clients and particularly in helping them to get what they want, not just what we think they need.

Hall Contracting is a Southeast Queensland based dredging civil contracting and marine infrastructure business. We specialise particularly in building climate resilient infrastructure in the Pacific Islands so coastal defenses and reclamation, as well as civil infrastructure around Australia and dredging projects around Australia and Southeast Asia.

Climate change is having an effect on some of the more low-lying Pacific island nations such as Tavalu and Kiribati.

These islands are only some meters above sea level and anyincrease in the intensity of storm events, coupled with predicted sea rise sea level rises, will have a impact on the infrastructure that's already there.

The Tavalu Coastal Adaptation Project (TCAP) is the first stage of an ambitious plan by the local government to expand the size of the liable area of Funafuti and raise the ground level to provide more resilience against future storm events as predicted sea level rises occur.

What we've done has made a particular effort to employ locals, and to train them and to ensure that we transfer the skills so that moving forward on future projects and and out into the into the decades to come that we leave behind, not only the infrastructure we build but also the skilled labor.

Our expert staff are given on the job training for for the guys especially on the operations of machinery, and work on construction sites in general.

There's a real opportunity for Australian companies to get involved building climate resilience and get involved in these programs which come out of the green economy.

Australia in general, and Australian companies in particular have the skills to partner with these economies to deliver climate resilience infrastructure. We need to adapt to the effect of climate change.

We look forward to essentially tripling the amount of usable land in Tuvalu and really building true Coastal resilience.

Helping Pacific islands adapt to climate change

Hall Contracting began as a coastal dredging business on the Sunshine Coast in 1946. The Chief Executive, Cameron Hall, is the grandson of the founder. With his family, Cameron has built Hall Contracting into an international dredging and civil construction company that specialises in marine infrastructure and land reclamation.

‘We are a third-generation family business,’ says Hall. ‘Today, we are Australia’s largest home-grown dredging company. We work across Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and we have a specialist capability. We can execute complex dredging work on remote islands where logistics is a huge challenge.’

Hall Contracting has delivered coastal protection and land reclamation schemes in Fiji, Tuvalu and other Pacific nations. Many projects are vital to island communities. Without improved coastal protection, towns are at risk of catastrophic damage from storm surges.

Hall Contracting brings 2 particular qualities to projects in the Pacific: robust engineering and inclusive workforce participation.

‘We deliver high standards of construction and safety to some of the most remote places on Earth,’ says Hall. ‘With quality engineering, vulnerable communities can protect themselves against the effects of climate change.

‘Also, we involve the local population. We teach people how to drive loaders, work excavators and operate machinery. We provide certifications that create employment opportunities. Our projects are completed with real pride.’

Exporting dredging expertise across Asia

Hall Contracting gained its first overseas project in 1999. This involved land reclamation for the construction of a power station in Thailand. The company subsequently won contracts in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. Today, some of the company’s most challenging projects are in the Pacific.

‘Our first project in the Pacific was in Fiji,’ says Hall. ‘We delivered flood-mitigation works in 2005 and have worked in Fiji ever since.’

Hall Contracting has also completed numerous dredging projects in Papua New Guinea, including dredging hard clay to help create a new port facility.

‘We’ve also worked in Tokelau, which is a remote territory halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii,’ says Hall. ‘Tokelau has no harbour or port facilities, but we got the equipment in to dredge reef passages between atolls and construct new wharves.’

Heavy earth moving equipment work on a coastal barrier to protect against rising water levels

Australian dredging specialist Hall Contracting is helping the Pacific Islands protect towns against rising sea levels. 

Raising the atolls of Tuvalu

Hall Contracting is currently working on a land reclamation project in Tuvalu. The remote, archipelago nation in the Western Pacific is highly vulnerable to rising sea levels. The highest point of natural land mass is just 4.6 metres above sea level.

The Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project is designed to create new land and protect 3 of the country’s coral atolls against storm surges. Funded by the Green Climate Fund and Government of Tokelau, the project is part of Tuvalu’s Long Term Adaptation Plan, which was developed with the United Nations Development Programme. 

‘We reclaimed over 7.3 hectares of land in Funafuti,’ says Hall. ‘We lifted the surface around 1.5 metres above the adjacent land elevation and protected it with geotech-style coastal bags. This means vegetation can grow into our coastal protection scheme.

‘We’ve now relocated to the Nanumanga Atoll where we are continuing coastal protection works. Our team will wrap up the project in Nanumea in 2024.

‘The project addresses the country’s urgent need for coastal protection and climate resilience. It’s an adaption strategy – and it’s what Tuvalu needs right now.’

Delivering high-quality dredging and marine civil works in remote Tuvalu is a major challenge. All equipment must be transhipped from Fiji, which is 640 nautical miles to the south.

‘Our expertise is in planning: knowing what equipment we need and how to bring it in,’ says Hall. ‘Also, what makes us different is that we involve the locals in what we do. When we have finished our projects, many of them are qualified to do things they couldn’t do before.’

Assistance from Austrade

Executives at Hall Contracting often accept projects in countries where they have never worked before. This is where Austrade’s network helps. Advisors can discuss many aspects of how to work on temporary contracts in overseas jurisdictions.  

‘Every time we go to a new country, our first call is to Austrade,’ says Hall. ‘Advisors give us background on how the country works, plus the relevant tax and legal requirements.

‘Austrade has been fantastic in Fiji,’ he adds. ‘Austrade advisors keep their finger on the pulse, and they know what’s going on. We always keep in regular contact.’

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