Tweed River dredging works to replenish Kingscliff Beach

12 December 2017

Sand to protect shoreline from erosion events

Tweed ratepayers are the big winners from current NSW Government works transferring sand from the Tweed River to Kingscliff Beach for shoreline replenishment.

Council was approached by the NSW Department of Industry - Crown Lands and Water to have 60,000 cubic metres of sand dredged from the Tweed River entrance and Terranora Inlet deposited on Kingscliff Beach at no cost.

Council’s Coordinator of Natural Resource Management Jane Lofthouse said the work is being undertaken though the NSW Government's Dredging of Priority Waterways on the North Coast program.

“If Council were to undertake this necessary work on their own the cost to ratepayers would be many hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Ms Lofthouse said.

“The Kingscliff – Dreamtime Beach Coastal Zone Management Plan, adopted by Council in May 2017, calls for sand nourishment onto Kingscliff Beach to the North of the newly constructed seawall.

“This nourishment is required to combat loss of beach amenity during erosion events as the seawall locks up sand behind the wall that would normally be available to move into the coastal system in high seas and erosion events.”

Sand from the dredging operation will be deposited on the beach until March 2018.

At this time heavy equipment will be used to re-contour the beach, rebuilding and reinforcing the natural dune system which is the buffer for future coastal erosion events.

Ms Lofthouse said once the dunes have been rebuilt, revegetation works can be undertaken to help secure the sand and further strengthen the dune buffer.

“Some of the sand deposited will be washed into the ocean by natural tidal cycles and any larger wave events,” she said.

“This sand will be distributed in the near shore area, creating banks which reduce the impact of big waves on the beach.

“Without this sand nourishment process beach erosion events would increase in size and frequency.”

Ms Lofthouse said dredging the Tweed River and Terranora Inlet to improve boating safety and utilising the sand to help protect our coastline is a win-win situation for the Tweed community as a whole.