A mild winter, combined with the early positive performance of the newly reconfigured coastal structures at Port Geographe, has seen a significant reduction in work required on the local beaches this year.
Department of Transport (DoT) Coastal Infrastructure General Manager, Steve Jenkins , said that the excellent condition of the beaches at Port Geographe meant there was currently no requirement for seagrass wrack bypassing or dredging, and the 2015 spring maintenance program would be limited to minor sand replacement at Wonnerup.
“ Close monitoring of the project area and surrounding beaches is continuing and there is capacity to respond to issues resulting from late spring storms. However, at this stage there is no significant build-up of seagrass wrack on the beach or in the channel ,” Mr Jenkins said.
“ While the observations showed the beach at Wonnerup directly adjacent to Port Geographe has been stable over winter, in preparation for next winter limited amounts of sand will be added to the Wonnerup beach this spring.”
For the past five years DoT has co-ordinated the coastal maintenance works required at Port Geographe each spring to clear the seagrass wrack accumulation, maintain a navigable channel and remedy beach erosion.
In May this year Transport Minister Dean Nalder officially opened the State Government’s $28.15 million reconfiguration of coastal structures at Port Geographe.
The project was the result of a decade of extensive research, community consultation and computer modelling to determine the most effective design to reduce the annual coastal maintenance requirements.
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