A project to deposit 150,000cm of sand on Fremantle’s Port Beach has been supported by Fremantle Council.
Port Beach has been subject to a number of severe erosion events in recent years. The last year, a state government report put the beach at the top the list of WA’s coastal erosion hotspots.
Transport and Planning Minister, Rita Saffioti, has announced that $3.25 million would be allocated to the City of Fremantle for a large-scale sand nourishment project at Port Beach.
Further, the sand nourishment process would involve taking sand from offshore sources and depositing it on Port Beach.
The detailed investigations into the project revealed the sand in offshore sources is a close match to the size and color of the sand on Port Beach, and that dredging from the channel isn’t expected to impact on the local wave climate or on the sediment dynamics of surrounding beaches.
The project is still subject to environmental approvals and the method for depositing the sand is currently under investigation.
Options include dumping the sand a short distance offshore and letting it wash up onto the beach. Pumping it through pipes onto the beach or “rainbowing” it onto the beach are the other options.