The City of Gold Coast (City) delivered a major beach nourishment project from June to September 2017. Over 3 million cubic metres of sand was delivered during the Gold Coast Beach Nourishment Project (GCBNP) to increase the volume of sand along vulnerable sections of Gold Coast beaches. A 111 metre long split hopper dredge was procured through an international competitive tender process to deliver the works. Sand was dredged from offshore sand reserves and distributed nearshore using bottom dumping and rainbowing methods. The sand placement design used an innovative ‘design with nature’ approach defined by a unique grid system. This allowed for sand delivery flexibility with changing bathymetries, community use of the beach and temporary enhancement of surf amenity. Numerical modelling was undertaken prior to and during the works to ensure sand placement did not adversely impact on local conditions. All necessary federal and state approvals were obtained and pre, during and post-works environmental monitoring was undertaken to ensure compliance with approval conditions. The GCBNP was delivered along some of the most popular and high profile beaches in Australia. Project communications and education with local residents and visitors to the Gold Coast was undertaken and was essential for successful delivery on the project. Operational aspects of the project included a mobile beach safety crew and ongoing relocation of shark nets to allow the dredge to operate 24/7, only pausing works for bunkering, maintenance and high swell conditions. The City continues to monitor ongoing sand movements along Gold Coast beaches through its hydrographic survey program and the Gold Coast continues to benefit from the additional sand, having undergone a number of swell events post-works with minimal beach erosion. Analysis of Palm Beach has shown that over seventyfive per cent of sand placed during the GCBNP is still in the active beach system. (Project description from Perkins et al, 2021. A Summary of the 2017 Gold Coast Beach Nourishment Project: Implementation and Effectiveness. https://www.coastsandports.org/papers/2021/235_elliott_finalpaper.pdf).

Beach renourishment

Method: Artificially nourished

Sand source: Offshore

Sand volume (m2): 3,000,000

Sand placement: Full profile

Frequency of renourishment: Once (mass nourishment, building on other ongoing renourishment)

Date of last renourishment: 2017