25289-001-Rev0 - The Esplanade (1)-compressed

                                             Minor cracking noted in
                                             rendered structures




                       Text Figure 5: Oblique drone image of the site, looking east


4.2         Topography
During our site walk-over, topographic features specific to the site were noted, and ground slopes were
recorded using a hand-held clinometer. As illustrated in Text Figure 6 overleaf, the site is located just
above the crest, and over the upper face, of the high dune backing Sunshine Beach. The stoss face of the
dune is generally eastward facing at the site location.
The inferred natural ground slope was generally consistent through the site, at about 8° to the east.
However, the site had been altered by historic cut and fill earthworks associated with construction of the
existing residence, which had formed level areas connected via stairs and retaining walls. In the area
immediately to the east of the site, along the road area, the ground was near flat and appeared to have
been formed by filling works estimated to be up to 1 m in height. Approximately 3 m to the south-east
of the property boundary, this fill was retained by a 0.6 m high timber sleeper retaining wall in poor
condition. The remainder of the abovementioned fill, which formed a near level area extending between
5 m and 10 m east of the site, was graded down to the natural slope. This then transitioned to the top of
the dune slope, with a prominent break in slope over the main dune face which had an overall gradient
of around 30°. At about midway down the dune slope, the slope angle increased to between 30° and 37°,
but was still generally planar in shape.
At the toe of the high dune a trough was present, of around 5 m width. The frontal dune running along
the back of the main beach area was about 1 m height and undulating. Beyond this, the beach dropped
down from about RL 3 m AHD to the shoreline (around RL 0 m AHD).




Geotechnical investigation
19 November 2025 | 25289-001-Rev0                                                                       6