In 1967, the Gold Coast experienced the most severe erosion. The City Council then set about repairing the damage. The plan called for the construction of a 16-metre-deep seawall on the “A-Line”. In 2013, the previous State Government refused to fund the project with $15 million, but the Council pressed ahead with a revised series of projects. The plan includes the construction of seawalls along the Gold Coast’s beaches.
The system’s interlocking concrete blocks are dyed to blend in with the surroundings and can be angled back to collect sand. It costs around $1 million per kilometer and requires little maintenance. Unlike the seawall program in Gold Coast, interlocking concrete barriers don’t tumble or crumble in the big waves. Although Professor Tomlinson acknowledges that boulders can dislodge during storms, he says nothing is fundamentally wrong with the concrete barrier.
Coastal erosion has become a problem in Paradise Point, a wealthy Gold Coast suburb. It’s estimated that more than $1.4 billion worth of property is at risk of accretion or coastal erosion. That’s three times more than in any other area of Australia. There are now more than 400 homes listed as high-risk. And while the city continues to rebuild, the issue of coastal erosion continues to dominate the local agenda.
In early 2020, a storm surge washed away part of the coastal town’s waterfront. In early 2020, the area was evacuated due to a storm surge and was named the third-most-at-risk coastal area in Australia. While these conditions are uncharacteristic, the erosion in this region may continue to erode. Despite these recent developments, the Gold Coast remains the envy of the rest of Australia. In the meantime, plans are under way to move the iconic Bowman Scenic Drive inland.
While some critics view the dumping of sand on beaches as a waste of money, Mayor Tom Tate justified his decision by saying that the city should use other methods to protect important environments and assets. In other words, the investigation must outline the methods that will protect important assets and environments in the future. Further, the report should support the view that such projects are the best way to address beach erosion. This, if properly done, will provide the city with an edge over its competitors.
Using Sentinel-1 SAR satellite imagery and tidal data, the study aims to discover patterns of post-storm beach recovery. With this new information, it can develop a method for the automatic extraction of waterlines along the Gold Coast. This methodology is based on an analysis of five study areas along the coast. These areas are of particular interest to scientists who are trying to find a way to manage the environment.
The gold coast’s sediment budget is dominated by longshore transport and receives little sand from freshly weathered rock. Most of its sand comes from Pleistocene beach ridge systems updrift. The area also lacks any evidence of submarine canyons or seamounts, and the absence of such systems would provide a buffer to the region from late Holocene erosion. It also appears unlikely that these processes would be able to increase the natural supply.
The Gold Coast’s shoreline management plan includes a seawall, which was designed after 11 cyclones hit the coast in 1967. The gold coast’s seawall is comprised of three layers, each measuring 16m in width and six metres in height. Its front slope is 1:11.5. It has been tested and certified to withstand a one-hundred-metre cyclone wave. The project has raised the question of whether the cost of beach nourishment schemes can be justified against the benefits.
Another option is to install large interlocking bricks at the ends of a Gold Coast beach. The large interlocking bricks are cheap and easily available, and private companies have proposed using them on Kirra groyne and Narrowneck reef in the past. A more expensive solution, however, is the installation of geotextile bags on the Gold Coast. This method has worked well in other parts of Australia because it mimics the natural cycle of sand flow.
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