Save Ocean Beach

The natural and physical resources of Ocean beach and its adjacent City Dunedin are under threat and you can help!

UPDATE 25th July 2009 article from ODT
"It's as serious as it's been since the emergency [in 2007]."
Contractors next week would build a new mattress and place it behind and beneath the existing ones.


Above: today looking down towards St Clair, below, compare to a series of images over the last 2 years from a similar spot. Although the beach profile is lowered, there does not seem to be such an effect on the St Clair end, with most of the erosion around Moana Rua Road. Also a bit further along where the Tahuna outfall pipe was, has been gouged out more than the rest of the beach .


Above left: pulled back view , right: closer view of the digger work at Moana Rua, where in the last two days they have delivered truckloads of sand over the edge of the road, and replenished sand over the rock mattresses and boulders recently exposed at the base, as seen below:
Two days ago

Above photo taken on Wednesday from the base of Moana Rua Road at Middle Beach, note the scattered boulders on the sand at the base. Also the exposed rock mattresses. Significant lowering of beach profile.
Below left: the digger arrives, and first thing it tasks to is to dig up the scattered boulders on the sand(as seen in pic above)and place them on top of the rock mattresses. They are now all gone. Now, I understand that removing these actually cause more erosion. I was told that this was done at St Clair when they were building the new sea wall. Rocks were removed from the shoreline which caused significant lowering of the beach profile. They are actually needed to retain sand. Any thoughts on this?

Above right: damaged and exposed rock mattresses.
Article "Tides flood roads, erode dunes" at ODT.
Below, today St Clair, a good fill of sand at the base of the sea wall.
Motel progressing well, I think its looking pretty good!

4 comments:

hello

ummm i am learning about about the erosion at middle beach and i would like to know some of your guys ideas

Cassy,
email me at phoam.arts (at) gmail (dot) com

Nic Reeves

Hey Cassy!
I think that the DCC needs to do something coz i dnt wnt mi friends house 2 go!! nd it is getn reali worse!

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