Tonkin + Taylor’s coastal engineers and scientists deliver smart, sustainable solutions that help clients manage risk, adapt to change, and design resilient infrastructure. We work across the full coastal zone — from eroding cliffs and legacy landfills to urban edges, surf zones, and dynamic shorelines.
With expertise spanning engineering, geomorphology, climate science, and contaminated land, we help you understand the risks, develop practical options, and deliver solutions that are robust, constructable, and environmentally sound.
Contact us
If you’re planning a coastal project, responding to erosion or hazards, or exploring long-term adaptation, we’re here to help. Contact our Coasts + Water Practice lead here.
What we do
Coastal Processes + Geomorphology
Understanding how coastlines behave is fundamental to resilient coastal planning and infrastructure.
Our team brings deep knowledge of sediment transport, shoreline dynamics, wave processes, and coastal landform evolution. We integrate remote sensing, monitoring, and modelling to help clients understand change, manage erosion, and plan for the future.
Services include:
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Shoreline change analysis
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Sediment budget assessment
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Geomorphological mapping
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Coastal monitoring strategies
Climate Change Adaptation
Rising seas, intensifying storms and long-term coastal change all demand new thinking.
We help you identify and manage climate risks to coastal assets and communities, using scenario modelling, risk assessments, and adaptive planning frameworks. Our team supports proactive decision-making to protect the things that matter — now and into the future.
Services include:
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Coastal vulnerability and risk assessments
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Sea level rise impact modelling
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Adaptation pathways and options analysis
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Community and stakeholder engagement support
Coastal + Marine Structure Design
We design infrastructure that works with nature and withstands the forces of the sea.
Whether you’re building seawalls, shared paths, or port infrastructure, our team delivers practical, buildable designs grounded in site-specific modelling and multidisciplinary input. We balance engineering resilience with public access, ecological function, and aesthetics.
Services include:
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Design of seawalls, revetments, groynes, and breakwaters
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Urban waterfront edge treatments
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Wave and surf-zone modelling
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Integration with landscape and ecology
Coastal Hazard + Risk Assessments
Coastal erosion, cliff collapse and inundation can threaten communities, infrastructure, and the environment.
Our team combines geotechnical, geological and coastal expertise to identify and quantify risk, develop hazard zones, and support planning and mitigation.
Services include:
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Cliff stability and toe erosion assessments
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Erosion and inundation hazard mapping
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Probabilistic and deterministic risk assessments
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Coastal planning and policy support
Coastal Landfills
Legacy landfills in coastal areas pose serious environmental risks as erosion accelerates.
We bring together coastal hazard specialists and contaminated land experts to assess landfill vulnerability, design mitigation options, and implement adaptive management strategies to reduce harm.
Services include:
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Landfill risk and vulnerability assessments
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Adaptive management frameworks
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Erosion and containment modelling
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Remediation and monitoring strategies
Nature-Based Solutions
Natural systems are powerful allies in coastal protection.
We design and implement nature-based and hybrid solutions — like dunes, mangroves, saltmarsh and living shorelines — to reduce erosion, buffer wave energy and restore ecological value.
Services include:
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Feasibility assessments for nature-based options
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Design and integration of living shorelines
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Hybrid infrastructure (engineered + natural)
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Monitoring, modelling and adaptive management
