7 hours Ago By Danielle Mahe
A dredging barge sitting idle on the Gold Coast for the past two weeks is finally being put to work to help restore the city's eroded beaches following ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. For the next eight weeks, the barge will dredge sand from the ocean floor and pump it towards the beaches in an effort to replace the A Gold Coast City Council spokesperson said the 75-metre-long vessel docked at the Southport Yacht Club on March 22 and began pumping sand at Surfers Paradise over the weekend. Once works there are complete, it will then head north to replenish the beaches at Main Beach and Narrowneck which were hit hardest as a result of the strong wind gusts and big swells that battered the city's coastline.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred created steep scarping on Gold Coast beaches. Wave heights of up to 12.3m were recorded at Main Beach during the severe weather event, the highest recorded in the city's history, according to Gold Coast City Council data.
Heavy machinery is already being used to , which is up to 6m high in some locations. Majority of beaches open Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate previously promised to buy a beer for everyone on the Gold Coast if 80 per cent of the city's beaches were not ready by Easter. At a media conference on Monday, he confirmed the deadline had been met.
Tom Tate is inviting holiday-makers to the Gold Coast for the Easter holidays. "Eighty per cent of the beach on the Gold Coast is now open. Come on down, enjoy your holiday," Cr Tate said.
About nine of the city's 41 beaches stretching from Southport to Surfers Paradise remain closed due to severe scarping. Cr Tate said dredge works would continue throughout the Easter long weekend and encouraged beachgoers to stay away from the affected beaches while sand was being pumped onto the shore. Beachgoers are being urged to stay away from beaches during dredge works.
"If you cherish your surfboard, like most surfers do, you don't want to go near [the dredge] and have your surfboard sandblasted," he said. "Watch from afar ..
. there's another 50 kilometres of beach that you can surf and enjoy your surfing.".
