Wattle Range Council, South Australia, has just announced that dredging of the Beachport Boat Ramp will start a few weeks later than originally planned.
“Dredging contractor Victorian Marine Services (VMS) has advised that they are delayed due to a project they are currently working on,” the council said in the release. “At at this stage they are hoping to be on site and dredging by the second week in October.”
A couple years ago, Wattle Range Council awarded seven-year contract to VMS for maintenance of the boat ramp basin. Since 2018, the contractor has been dredging sand from the Beachport Boat Ramp Basin in the Limestone Coast Region once or twice a year.
The dredging is necessary due to a constant inflow of sand in to the area. The main cause of siltation is significant long wave energy that is present in Beachport.
The long wave energy enters the boat ramp basin, becomes trapped and then magnified. This generates currents that travel in and out of the boat ramp basin every 2 to 3 minutes.
Another key coastal process in Beachport are wave driven currents moving north along the shore. Wave driven currents drive sand north along the ocean side of the boat ramp breakwater.
These currents are strong enough to stir up and move sand to the entrance of the boat ramp basin in a plume of sand laden water.
In order to keep the boat ramp available for public use, the council will continue dredging of the Beachport Boat Ramp until permanent solution is found.