Areas of Blacksmiths Beach were damaged and eroding due to unmanaged off-road vehicle access. Dredged material from the nearby Swansea Channel was deposited on Blacksmiths Beach, complemented by low-density revegetation and exclusion of vehicles. While the revegetation offset the damage done by the sand placement, no clear ecological benefit of the works was found in a study by Cooke et al., 2020.
Beach renourishment
Method: Artificially nourished
Sand source: Other dredged material
Sand volume (m2): 80,000
Sand placement: Dune area
Frequency of renourishment: Once
Date of first renourishment: 2014
Dune replanting or construction
Method: Revegetation, Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation - method: Restrict vehicle access
Revegetation - species: Spinifex sericeus, Carpobrotus glaucescens
Approach
Beach renourishment, Dune replanting or construction
Geographic context
Open coast
Organisation responsible
Lake Macquarie City Council
Primary objective
Coastal protection
Coastal hazard
Erosion
Asset vulnerable
Natural, Recreational
Length of coastline targeted (m)
800
Date of completion
2015
Source of project funding
State government
Swansea Channel and beach nourishment works completed – Neumann Dredging
Cooke, B. C., Morton, J. K., Baldry, A., & Bishop, M. J. (2020). Backshore nourishment of a beach degraded by off-road vehicles: Ecological impacts and benefits. Science of the Total Environment, 724, 138115. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138115