JBA PACIFIC Scientists and Engineers
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Who we are We are engineers, scientists and environmental consultants, working to increase resilience against adverse and extreme weather. We integrate technology and engineering to provide unique solutions to mitigate the impacts of natural perils. We work in five core sectors: Government and Regulatory | Transport and Infrastructure Re/Insurance | Mining, Oil and Gas | Utilities
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The JBA Group is a family of businesses operating globally. We create comprehensive weather management strategies, including planning, engineering, modelling, weather forecasting and emergency response. We develop integrated solutions for asset management, investment planning, and infrastructure resilience. Our cutting-edge hazard maps are used globally to evaluate exposure to natural catastrophes and make smart decisions about re/insurance pricing, underwriting and risk management. Our sophisticated weather and flood forecasting systems are used throughout government and industry to manage operational risks, minimise downtime and allow greater preparedness for recovery. We integrate five core specialisms: numerical modelling | risk management forecasting systems | asset management | engineering
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Government and regulatory We create strategies that integrate the latest science, numerical modelling and engineering techniques to plan for, forecast and respond to extreme events now and in the future. Doing these things together saves money and creates clarity on how to optimise asset investment strategies, impact assessments and planning policies. Providing the tools to become more resilient to the effects of weather and a changing climate.
• We develop detailed estuarine, coastal, flood and groundwater numerical models. These are used for risk assessments, EIAs and emergency management planning. •
We combine numerical models and engineering to develop long-term asset management strategies that use a risk-based approach to prioritise strategic infrastructure upgrades.
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We link forecasting and asset management systems to trigger pre and post-event inspections and issue operational instructions to emergency services.
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DID YOU KNOW? The 2010/11 Australian floods affected an area the size of France and Germany combined. Very few numerical models are able
toSTATS represent such largescale flooding. Jflow, our own two-dimensional flood model, is a leading example. Run on the world’s largest dedicated flood modelling network it allows nationalscale flood assessments for rain, groundwater, river and coastal flooding.
We have developed national cyclone risk models. These offer detailed information on surge, extreme sea level, wind and wave conditions for development planning, risk assessment or forecasting systems. Through our JEMS exercise management system we offer web-based flood response exercise training. This provides more realistic event scenarios for blue-light and first responders, building their knowledge of roles and responsibilities. Our GisMAPP and AssetCoast ipad apps allow customizable data collection for terrestrial, coastal and marine assets. JBA Pacific | 5
Transport and infrastructure Working at local, regional and whole-network scales, we integrate data collection, engineering design, risk modelling and asset management planning for drainage, water quality, flooding and coastal assets. Our award winning marine and rail network management tools evaluate and monitor risks such as asset deterioration, operational disruptions and weather downtime. They include decision support tools and real-time forecasting systems to predict and mitigate the impact of weather. These services minimise operational and investment costs. They simplify large-scale logistics, decrease downtime and provide the foundation to prioritise asset investment.
GisMAPP is an iOS (iPad) location-aware mapping system used to collect asset data on site, to guide asset inspections and to manage health and safety risks. The data collected automatically synchronises with a web-based application to manage data storage. AssetCoast is an award winning coastal asset management system, used widely in the railway and local government sectors. This system integrates asset inspection data from GisMAPP and the results of advanced numerical modelling to evaluate the risk of coastal erosion, wave overtopping and flooding. This information is then analysed within the system to optimise long term coastal asset management plans.
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ForeCoast® Rail is a bespoke flood forecasting and weather management system used widely by the UK’s national service provider Network Rail. This system provides early warning on events that may disrupt operations and guides incident response. ForeCoast® Marine is used in the ports, harbours and marine construction industry. It is the most comprehensive metocean risk management tool available, enabling weather downtime strategies to be optimised at every phase of a marine construction or port development project.
DID YOU KNOW? Queensland’s statecontrolled road network comprises around 33,500km of roads. This includes 6,500 bridges and major culverts – representing a potential risk of flood-related closures. In Australia, floods are the most expensive type of natural disaster with direct costs estimated at close to $400 million per year. This can be through disruption to roads, railways and ports, affecting agriculture, coal, mining and transport industries.
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Re/Insurance Our innovative catastrophe models make it easy for re/ insurers and governments to assess their risk across a range of return periods. We support detailed post event analysis through flood mapping and risk analysis, presenting timelines of affected areas, investigating antecedent conditions and providing portfolio analysis of affected properties. Our products provide our clients with a greater understanding of exposure to natural catastrophes, allowing more informed decisions about pricing, underwriting and risk management.
• We run client portfolios on a consultancy basis using the JCalf catastrophe modelling platform. This allows modelling of re/insurance policy conditions to provide exceedance probability loss estimates for Aggregate Exceedance Probability (AEP), Annual Occurence Exceedance Probability (OEP), Average Annual Loss (AAL) and Year Loss Table (YLT). •
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In the days following a large scale catastrophe we develop quick-response event footprints. These include the maximum flood hazard extent to estimate event exposure. As part of our Global flood maps we have in-depth analysis of Australia’s risk to flooding from rivers, surface water and coastal storm surges. These maps can be used to provide a greater understanding of the risk facing residential, commercial and industrial property.
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DID YOU KNOW? On average thirteen cyclones form in the Australian region each year,
half of which become severe. To address this risk we have developed a suite of national cyclone models around the Australian coastline.
Our Global Flood Maps predict flood risk for 23 countries across the world including Australia. These models include river, surface water, coastal flooding and tropical cyclone wind. Our tools have been developed to provide specific analysis of the spatial and temporal patterns of single or multi-peril probabilistic catastrophic events.
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Mining, Oil and Gas Our unique technology is used to pro-actively manage and optimise port and offshore logistics, minimising the impacts of weather downtime. Using established and cost effective flood maps and models, we evaluate flood risks to mining operations, design intelligent engineering solutions and create flood response plans. We perform detailed environmental impact modelling and monitoring, streamlining the assessment process for new infrastructure.
Through detailed numerical modelling we are able to provide estuarine, coastline, hydrologic and flood modelling to support new design or impact assessments. Our comprehensive weather forecasting systems predict wind, temperature, rainfall, flooding and coastal risks and provide you with the technology to respond quickly and appropriately. We perform engineering inspections and design for • Drainage and flood infrastructure • Coastal structures • Site runoff and sedimentation dams. We perform risk assessments to support drought management and water supply balance strategies. 10 | JBA Pacific
DID YOU KNOW? The 2010/11 floods cost the mining industry approximately $2.5 billion due to damaged equipment, infrastructure and lost production. In many areas flood waters exceeded levee banks, detention basins and
GisMAPP is an iOS (iPad) location-aware mapping system used to collect asset data on site, to guide asset inspections and to manage health and safety risks during site work. AssetCoast is an award winning asset management system, used to analyse weather and environmental risks, optimise asset investment planning, and design flood defence system that are climate change-ready. ForeCoastÂŽ Marine is used in the ports, harbours and marine construction industry. It is the most comprehensive metocean risk management tool available, enabling weather downtime strategies to be optimised for transport and supply chain logistics.
DID YOU KNOW? More than 80% of Australia’s gas resources exist in deep, remote, offshore areas. Reaching these resources cost effectively will require continued advances in risk management, such as using the risk-based tools developed in ForeCoastŽ Marine.
coastal defences, which were undersized for the extreme conditions. Our forecasting systems can offer up to ten days advanced warning of rainfall, river, flooding, coastal and heatrelated risks. When linked to asset management systems they provide one of the most costeffective means of managing extreme weather risks.
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Utilities
We minimise exposure to risk and manage existing threats for the utilities sector through our large-scale risk maps and proactive asset management systems. Identifying assets at risk of extreme weather and providing real-time forecasts of their predicted impact. These systems support prioritisation strategies and network resilience plans. Taking into account the design and costing of infrastructure upgrades for drainage networks, sewers, outfalls and powerline assets. Numerical modelling supports the calculation of upgrade benefits; either due to reduced disruption, lower maintenance requirements and repairs. Forecasting systems improve proactive weather management, keeping emergency teams more informed of potential disruption risks.
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Using numerical modelling we can understand a range of natural processes such as temperature, rainfall, groundwater, flooding and coastal processes. We undertake engineering design and impact assessments, considering the environmental impacts of new drainage networks, sewers, outfalls and powerline assets.
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Our large-scale risk maps support investment planning and the analysis risk exposure. Our asset management systems offer a customisable framework for any type of utility infrastructure, and can be linked to extreme weather forecasting systems.
DID YOU KNOW? JBA brings new technology and efficiencies for large scale Flood Risk Assessments and resilience planning. These have allowed us to undertake network wide risk assessments. For example, in the UK we have assessed: • 8,000 above-ground assets in east England for Anglian Water
• 538 sub-stations in west England for Electricity North West • 78 substations and 1378 primary grid sites in east England for UK Power Networks •
300 water facilities for Scottish Water for coastal, fluvial and pluvial flood risks
JScreen innovative tools simulates flooding caused by blockages in pipes, culverts or at bridges. It is used throughout government and utilities operations to prioritise asset upgrades to offer the most protection at the lowest cost. It links to our FRISM tool - an ArcGIS compatible add-in that computes depth-damage statistics for economic appraisal. JFlush considers the impact of urban sewer networks on hydrological processes, and JFes tool provides flood estimates on ungauged catchments. JBA Pacific | 13
Our team Jeremy Benn, JBA Group Chief Executive FREng MA MSc FICE FCIWEM C.WEM MASCE MIEI CEng CEnv CEng(I)
• Over 30 years’ international experience in water engineering and flood risk management • International Peer Reviewer to the New Zealand Government on approaches for post-earthquake flood mapping in 2013 • Member of the UK Government’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) • Lead author for the 2010 strategic study of flood warning services within Ireland Iain Willis, JBA Risk Management, Technical Director BSc MSc PhD
• Over 10 years’ experience in natural hazard research, GIS and catastrophe modelling • Co-author of the Lloyds report on Catastrophe Modelling and Climate Change (2013) • Asia-Pacific business development lead in the Re/Insurance sector • Catastrophe model development includes work on European flood, European windstorm, Asia Tropical cyclone and US Offshore energy Marc Pinnell, JBA Consulting Managing Director BSc MSc MCIWEM C.WEM
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Over 20 years’ experience in flood hydrology, hydraulics and flood mapping Project manager for Flood Risk Assessments, Strategic Flood Risk Assessments and flood risk mitigation studies Project director for design strategies, implementation of flood warning and forecasting systems, provision of flood risk advice to clients and design teams Committee member of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) Rivers and Coastal Group
Dr Tony Green, Director Mekong Modelling Associates, Cambodia (part of the JBA Group). BSc PhD CEng MICE MCIWEM C.WEM
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Over 30 years’ specialist experience of the application of hydraulic models International experience in Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Thailand, Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam Has lead major studies in irrigation, water supply and water resources Undertaken flood risk assessments for Utilities networks including hydraulic analysis of hydropower, water networks and water treatment works
Daniel Rodger, Lead of Coastal Processes and Risk BEnvSci (Marine), MEng, PGDipGIS, PGCert Coastal Eng, CEng MICE, CMarEng IMarEST
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Over 10 years’ experience in coastal processes, engineering and risk. Coastal risk assessments in Australia, the UK, Ireland, France, India and Vietnam Local government experience with Brisbane City and Coffs Harbour City Council Coastal and flood risk assessments in Brisbane, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Lockyer Valley, Ipswich and Gympie, Logan, Ipswich, Sunshine Coast, Western Downs, Townsville, Atherton, Magnetic Island and northern NSW
Mark Lawless, Head of Marine and Coastal Risk Management BSc MSc PhD CSci CEnv MCIWEM C.WEM
• 15 years’ experience in extreme sea-level science, modelling and forecasting • Has lead over 100 major coastal risk studies globally • Industry expert on real-time coastal forecasting systems • Technical director for the development of a national cyclone model for Australia, and previous cyclone hazard assessments in the West Indian ocean and Caribbean • Lead author for UK guidelines on coastal forecasting systems Kay Shelton, Senior Climate Analyst BSc MSc PhD
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Over 16 years’ experience in meteorology focusing on the formation and structure of tropical cyclones Experience with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) and Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research (CAWCR) producing seasonal prediction for Pacific Islands Post-doctoral research within the Monash University school of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, investigating how accurately climate models represent weather systems and rainfall patterns
Duncan Faulkner, Head of Hydrology MSc DIC MA FCIWEM C.WEM CSci
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20 years’ experience with flood risk assessments, flood forecasting and reservoir studies International expert witness for legal cases concerning fluvial flooding Detailed investigations of the flood impacts at Queensland mine sites Extensive review of the magnitude of the 2011 Queensland floods Developed the FORGEX method of rainfall frequency estimation which is a development of the FORGE method used in Australia JBA Pacific | 15