Palm Beach – Queensland

DHI Australia has completed an artificial reef for improving coastal protection and the surfing amenity at Palm Beach

Lifted from:
https://www.dhigroup.com/global/news/2019/11/construction_of_dhi_artificial_reef_design

Designing a complex artificial reef 
The reef design itself has evolved from a rectangular submerged breakwater rotated obliquely to the incident wave direction and with mild seaward facing slopes merging into a conical wave focusing toe.
The design used wave refraction to focus and intensify wave energy towards the shallow crest, and as a result of this, further increase wave dissipation. 
The crest level of the reef was set to 1.5 meters below mean sea level to make sure the reef crest remained submerged during low tide, while still being able to induce wave breaking on most swell conditions.
The shape of the reef was carefully designed to make sure that wave breaking on the reef occurred in a continuous and predictable fashion suitable to most surfers.

A rubble mound rock boulder design was chosen as the best option to assure that the design shape could be achieved in construction and that its structural integrity could be assured during large storms. 

Why don’t we..

1. not accept the shape of the bottom of the places we surf
2. get our local governments to crack a few rocks and make these places better
3. place building-waste blocks where they need to be to improve surfing spots OR better still, make places that people can’t surf into places where they can.

I can give examples but what do you think?

In NSW in the 1930s and 1940s there was a massive building, especially around Sydney, of swimming pools on the coast, they were hewn out of rock on the tidal platforms. Why don’t we do something similar to make/improve surf breaks?

Gold Coast QLD Narrowneck

Gold Coast QLD Narrowneck artificial reef

The Gold Coast Council is spending more than $2 million to revamp the offshore artificial reef at Narrowneck using another 70 sandbags the size of a small bus.
It is worth looking at this article just to see the specialised boat doing the job.

heraldsun.com.au/news/..artificial-reef-has-begun-which-will-improve-surf

Pushing the sand around to save Palm Beach

Gold Coast City Council (in Queensland, Australia) have a Surf Management Plan that includes:

• strategies to maximise enjoyment and minimise conflict between beach user groups (e.g. seasonal adjustments to flagged swimming and board riders zones)
• new coastal capital works projects will give consideration to both coastal protection and where possible, enhancement of surf amenity.

 

Details
goldcoast.qld.gov.au/thegoldcoast/surf-management-plan-23579.html

They announced in June 2016 that $4.5 million has been set aside to start the Palm Beach Shoreline Project and build an artificial reef about 400 metres off Palm Beach. It is expected to take four years.

brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/palm-beach-gets-artificial-reef

See also the previous story (July 2015):
brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/gold-coast-beach-erosion-plan

Note that Australian Coastal Walls are selling the ACW Geo-Block beach protection system. More about that on their web page.
australiancoastalwalls.com.au

For a longer term view of Gold Coast coastal management:
goldcoast.qld.gov.au/thegoldcoast/coastal-management-3246.html

 

Collaroy to Narrabeen

Sydney, Australia in the newly formed Northern Beaches Council Area

Following the June 2016 Black NorEaster and/or East Coast Low beach and property suffered significant damage.

Surfrider Foundation Northern Beaches was in the firing line for organising the 2002 Line In The Sand which convinced the then Warringah Council that the community was opposed to the construction of a multimillion dollar seawall over a kilometre long dumping 85,000 tons of rock on the beach at great public expense.

Seawalls profoundly damage beaches and Surfrider remains implacably opposed to hard so-called protective structures on beaches.

See there report to NB Council: makesurf/collaroy_seawall2016.pdf

OR

cloudfront.net/surfrider/pages/../Council_Presentation_Collaroy_Seawall_(1).pdf?1469083587

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Northern Beaches surfrider.org.au/nsw

The Northern Beaches Branch was one of Surfrider Australia’s original branches and is still going strong 20 years on!

Major campaigns over its life include the upgrade of Warriewood Sewage Treatment Plant, protesting the proposed seawall for Collaroy/Narrabeen Beach 2002 with the famous “Line In The Sand” and thwarting the proposed overdevelopment of Long Reef SLSC on 2 separate occasions.

The branch has representation on council committees and work closely with environment centres in Manly and Pittwater.

Always looking for another face and bod to lend a hand so if you live anywhere around the Northern Beaches contact them from details on the page:
surfrider.org.au/nsw

Podcast: Discovery

How to Make an Awesome Surf Wave
bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03670q5
from the BBC. (27 minutes)

Discusses engineering to make more and better surf breaks.
Discusses Boscombe, Bournemouth then to the Basque Country in northern Spain to the Wavegarden, in the foothills of the Cantabrian mountains.
Surfing veterans share their thoughts with marine biologist Helen Scales.

bbc.in/1Phlhit