Coomera River Dredging Campaign Wraps Up

A major dredging scheme has been successfully completed in the Coomera River, supporting safe and navigable waterways access for the Gold Coast’s multi-billion-dollar recreation, tourism and marine industries, the Gold Coast Waterways Authority announced today.

The campaign was made possible by the completion of the Gold Coast Waterways Authority’s Coomera Dredged Sediment Management Facility earlier this year.

Commenting the latest announcement, GCWA CEO Hal Morris said that the Facility was purpose-built to manage fine silty sediment which cannot be used for foreshore nourishment or placed offshore.

“For a long-time, dredging the stretch of the river between the Gold Coast Marine Industry Precinct and Sanctuary Cove had been put in the too-hard basket because there was nowhere to dispose of the sediment in an economic and environmentally friendly way,” said Morris.

“The completion of this campaign is a major achievement ensuring safe, navigable access for all types of vessels, including Superyachts up to 60 metres in length, supporting the Queensland Government’s Superyacht Strategy.”

An 12 kilometer stretch of the river was dredged between the Gold Coast Marine Industry Precinct and the river’s entrance into the Broadwater at Paradise Point.

The river was dredged to a depth of at least 3 meters below Lowest Astronomical Tide (LAT.)

About 75,000 cubic meters of sediment were removed from the river which is the equivalent of filling Cbus Stadium at Robina with sand to a depth of 15 meters.