Cairns Regional Council: Breakwaters to help mitigate erosion at Clifton Beach

Cairns Regional Council has received more than $1 million of State Government funding to assist in the construction of two breakwaters at Clifton Beach.

The proposed breakwaters are permanent structures constructed from rock for the primary purpose of mitigation of sand loss and retention of the beach profile.

The $2.5 million project is set to provide longer term protection of the foreshore, while also reducing ongoing costs of regular sand nourishment programs.

“The primary objective of the breakwater project is to trap sand being transported north along Clifton Beach and reduce the risk of long-term erosion on the beach. This will improve the resilience of the beach and improve the functionality, be more attractive and more useable for the community,” said the council.

The breakwaters, which will be about 28m x 18m in size, will be constructed on the shoreline.

A sand nourishment program is anticipated to continue following construction of the breakwater structures and will be completed as a separate project, said the council.

The State Government has committed $1.037 million of funding to the project under the Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program (CERMP).

The project has a total budget allocation of $2.5 million in 2024/25 in Council’s capital works program.

Work is expected to be completed in 2024.