About

James Lewis head shot
Coastal Engineer ,
Intercoastal Consulting

Summary

James Lewis, Director of Intercoastal Consulting, is a certified practicing civil engineer with over 15 years of experience specialising in coastal engineering throughout Australasia and across the Pacific. He has a broad knowledge of coastal protection design, integrated coastal management and surf amenity. James’s skills extend outside the office where he has led large-scale metocean deployments, analysing the data captured in the field to calibrate numerical models used to inform coastal design.

He has focussed the last 10 years of his career on working in Small Island Developing States (SIDs) in climate change adaptation, concerned primarily with developing climate-resilient coastal protection. James aspires to see the design phase through to implementation; having supported procurement, and contracting and undertaken construction supervision on large projects in remote locations. He aims to provide value and support through the complete project lifecycle including the social, financial and institutional aspects of these projects, endeavoring to understand the administrative, governmental and funding mechanisms specific to each country and community and their relation to the delivery of a successful project.

Using his knowledge of coastal engineering, the ocean and the environment, James’ primary endeavor is to assist coastal communities most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Qualifications and credentials
Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Coastal), 1998-2004, Completed, Griffith Universiy
English, Excellent, Excellent, Excellent, Excellent
Engineers Australia, Cetified Practising Engineer, 2024 -
Advanced Diploma Project Management, 2010-2011, Completed, Eductions Engineers Australia
Work experience
Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Engineer, Tuvalu, The Government of Tuvalu (GoT) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) have jointly committed US$38 million for the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project (TCAP).
Guidance for managing coastal protection works in Pacific Island Countries, Pacific Regional Infrastructure Facility (PRIF) / Asian Development Bank (ADB), Coastal Engineer, Fiji, Tuvalu, Kiribati, James collaborated with other coastal engineering experts specialising in Pacific Island Country (PIC_ coastal protection works to develop a guideline
Tuvalu Long-term Adaptation Project, L-TAP (Te Lafiga o Tuvalu), Government of Tuvalu, Coastal Engineer, Tuvalu, James was engaged by the Government of Tuvalu (GoT) to complete a preliminary engineering feasibility investigation of the Tuvalu Long Term Adaptation
Fanga’uta Lagoon Crossing Project – Bathymetric Survey, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Metocean Engineer, Tongatapu, Tonga, James undertook a high-resolution Single Beam Echo Sound (SBES) survey at Fanga’uta Lagoon, Tongatapu, Tonga. The survey involved establishing RTK G
Cocos (Keeling) Islands Coastal Vulnerability Study, Western Australia Dept of Planning, Metocean / Coastal Engineer, Cocos Keeling Island, James was part of the team that undertook a year long, large-scale metocean monitoring program used to inform a Coastal Adaptation Study of the Cocos
Tugun Seawall Design, City of Gold Coast, Coastal Engineer, Gold Coast, Australia, James was part of the Bluecoast team which were engaged to undertake detailed design of a 250m stretch of buried rock seawall along one of the Gold Co
Tonga climate Resilience Sector Project: Hahake Seawall Suproject, Asian Development Bank, Coastal Engineer, Kingdom of Tonga, James worked in his previous employment to complete the Hahake Seawall Subproject as part of the ADB-funded Tonga climate Resilience Sector Project (C
Intercoastal Consulting, Director / Coastal Engineer, Pacific, Tuvalu, Coastal Engineer, Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project, The Government of Tuvalu (GoT) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) have jointly committed US$38 million for the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project (TCAP).
Bluecoast Consulting Engineers, Director / Coastal Engineer, Australia / Pacific, Albany, Western Australia, Coastal Engineer, City of Albany Artificial Surfing Reef Concept Design, James was responsible for the development of a feasibility study in response to the CoA’s desire to provide recreational surfing amenity at Middleton
Royal HaskoningDHV, Coastal / Metocean Engineer, Australia, Lau Group, Fiji, Coastal Engineer / Project Manager, Investigation and Design of Outer Island Jetties in Fiji, James led the coastal and environmental studies for the project. Detailed site investigations were undertaken in six outer islands of Fiji in order to
Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI), Coastal Engineer, Australia, Kimberley Region, Northern Western Australia, Metocean Engineer, Kimberley Aquaculture Zone - metocean monitoring & Numericasl Modelling, James was responsible for the development of a comprehensive field deployment campaign in the remote Kimberley region of North-Western Australia. Jame
Coastal Engineering
Project Management
Numerical Modelling
Metocean Engineering
Publications
A national-scale probabilistic coastal flood hazard assessment for the atoll nation of Tuvalu, Earths Future, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2023EF003924
Tags
Meteorologist, M & E specialist, Knowledge management specialist, GIS specialist, Capacity building specialist, Civil engineering (hard and soft engineering solutions), Disaster Relief/Management specialist, Community trainer specialist, Proposal writing/Report writing, Other, Hydrographic Surveying, Project and Programme Design, Preparation, Implementation and Evaluation, Environmental Management, Environmental Impact Assessment, Environment management, Early Warning Systems, Programme Management, Project managment (planning, designing, implementation and monitoring), Technical Expert providing Environmental/Engineering services to Pacific Islands Countries and Territories for management of coastal and uplands natural resources and built environments., Vulnerability assessment and resilience-based management, Urban resilience, tsunami modelling, natural marine hazard, marine geology, Tsunami and coastal inundation hazards, Sustainable livelihoods & resilience building, Risk Assessment, DRR, and Resiliency Planning, Resilience, Development effectiveness, Community Consultation, Adaptation planning, vulnerability asses, Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment, National Adaptation Planning, Community-Based Adaptation, Coastal Oceanography, coastal inundation and erosion, Coastal Management, Coastal engineering, coastal processes, marine ecology, numerical modelling, Coastal Engineering, Climate change, climate science communication, Climate Resilient Infrastructure Design, Climate change mitigation and adaptation, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate change / adaptaion policy and strategy, Climate Risk Management