There are lots of beaches in Australia and it is no surprise that majority of Australia's population lives near to the coastline. It is stated that there are more than 10,000 beaches in Australia. However, the amount of human interactions had, over time, caused coastal management issues. The constant use and interactions on the beaches have cause those areas to become lower in quality. The coastline is slowly being eroded through natural hazards as well as human involvement, such as property development.
Palm Beach
One of the examples of coastal management in Australia is at Palm Beach. Palm Beach is a beach located in Gold Coast, Queensland. Even though Palm Beach is in the central area of Gold Coast, that area is more susceptible to serious erosion than other Gold Coast foreshores. Longshore drift and large storms events also caused the sand to frequently erode. Therefore a strategy called the Palm Beach Beach Protection Strategy (PBBPS) has been developed by GCCM and ICM for Gold Coast City Council to provide a management strategy for the beach. The strategy builds on the monitoring of the extensive works and nourishment since 1974. The PBBPS includes construction of a boulder sea wall, three offshore submerged reefs and beach nourishment. Although there was an opposition from the community participating in a 'No Reef' protest campaign, it is still pretty successful.
Beach nourishment is the process of adding more sand taken from another place to widen up the beach. Although beach nourishment will not prevent erosion, it reduces the wave forces. The sand will be eroded but the land and agriculture will be protected from erosion. However, beach nourishment does not last long and the beach will need to be renourished frequently.
Beach nourishment is the process of adding more sand taken from another place to widen up the beach. Although beach nourishment will not prevent erosion, it reduces the wave forces. The sand will be eroded but the land and agriculture will be protected from erosion. However, beach nourishment does not last long and the beach will need to be renourished frequently.
Advantages
- restore and widen up the beach - land and property behind the sand will be protected against erosion - when erosion occurs, it won't leave hazards on the beach |
Disadvantages
- nourishing sand erodes faster than normal sand - expensive - must be renourished every so often - beach turns into a construction zone when renourishing - the process of renourishment might harm, damage or destroy marine life |
Brooms Head
Brooms Head Caravan Park, located in New South Wales, is a family park with a 1.5km beach frontage. The current 351m rock revetment wall has been eroded, therefore, it is to be reconstructed to protect the park. The work will involve removing the existing rock, excavation of toe to deeper-in-the-sand profile, placement of geofabric and back-filling of existing rock and importation of further rock to reconstruct the wall to current best practice. Revetments are large concrete, wooden or rocky structures, quite similar to sea walls. As the waves break upon the revetment, it will absorb and reduces the wave energy.
Advantages
- effective at protecting the land/cliff from erosion - cheap and easy to maintain |
Disadvantages
- expensive to built - visually unappealing |