Renewed and restored: this iconic boardwalk has been given a new lease of life

At over 350m long, Shorncliffe Pier, just north of Brisbane, is one of the largest timber piers in the country. Rebuilt in 2016 after the original boardwalk suffered significant decay from marine borers and termites, it’s again become a popular destination along the coastline. 

However, over time, the coating on the Spotted Gum timber began to break down. Most alarming for the Council was that the pier became slippery when wet and the original coating had become black and tacky, leaving stains on visitor’s shoes and clothing. 

“The product being used wasn’t as natural as they thought it was going to be, so there was also the issue of how to remove it without it going into the ocean,” says Patrick Douglas, Business Development Manager at CUTEK. “The Council came to us for help, asking what could be done to make the timber less of a hazard.”

It was clear that a revision of the timber protection was needed, with key considerations being slip rating, long-term protection against the coastal climate, removing the previous coating without impacting the environment, and ease of maintenance.

CUTEK devised a method for the removal of the existing timber protectant, demonstrating this to the Council’s team. The process involved using a brush sanding system with an integral vacuum that contains timber dust and fibres – effectively removing the old coating while ensuring minimal impact on the marine habitat. 

“We removed the coating successfully, to their approval, and then with the Council engineers, we did slip testing on the areas that we’d removed from. We did slip testing on the area before the coating was removed and after it was removed, and just removing it reduced the slip rating substantially.”

The timber was then patch-tested with CUTEK’s suggested coating, CUTEK Wood Preservative, which delivered the same slip rating achieved in the tests before it was coated. 

“We didn’t alter the resistance of it at all, which was great,” says Patrick. 

Following the successful removal of the old, hazardous coating, CUTEK Wood Preservative was applied to the pier. 

“This product was suggested to the Council for greater protection against the things that ruined the infrastructure in the first place.”

The APVMA (Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority) licensed product, CUTEK Wood Preservative, is an oil-based product that protects exterior coated wood against mould, fungal decay and termites in industrial and domestic spaces. Its unique formulation means wood can resist damage caused by mould, fungal decay, termites and moisture, improving dimensional stability and minimising warping, cupping and splitting. 

“CUTEK Wood Preservative was developed for areas where you want to let the timber silver or let the timber naturally weather, without having it degrade. The idea behind CUTEK is it will penetrate deep into the wood to protect it,” says Patrick. “Because it’s a novel technology and nobody else is doing this type of protection as far as treatment goes, we had to do a lot of long-term testing through the nominated government facilities.”

Beyond its next-level protection, the penetrating timber preservative is easy to maintain – a key deciding factor for this government project. 

“Our product ended up being extremely suitable for the pier and the Council now maintains it on a regular basis by giving it a hot pressure wash and recoating one coat of CUTEK Wood Preservative. They can do this and allow it to dry in sections without needing to shut down the whole structure because the preservative absorbs into the wood and dries quickly. They’re doing this all in the method that we introduced to them and it works very well – they’re not dropping anything in the water when they clean it because CUTEK is not brought out by water, so it’s safe to pressure wash. This removes dirt and grime without actually taking the product out of the wood.”

This Australian-owned and made product has gained popularity globally, being used for projects small and large. Get in touch with CUTEK Australia to learn more about CUTEK Wood Preservative and more high-performance, eco-friendly wood protection products and explore more projects that have benefited from CUTEK. 

Disclaimer: CUTEK is a registered trademark of Chemisys Holdings Pty Ltd.