Record swell reverses Middleton Beach and Emu Point sand nourishment works, moves artificial surf reef rocks

During a huge swell on Monday the sand nourishment works on sections of Middleton Beach and Emu Point Beach completed last week eroded away again, with the new artificial surf reef rocks also suspected to have moved.

The City of Albany completed sand nourishment works on the beaches last week, a project co-sponsored by the Department of Transport as part of the Coastal Adaptation Protection Grant.

City of Albany executive director of infrastructure, development and environment Paul Camins said most of the sand placed at Emu Point by the city last week had been displaced by the large swell, but said that was a “normal and expected” part of sand nourishment works.

“The sand is intended to act as a buffer against coastal erosion, and while much of it has already shifted, it successfully protected the dual-use path, albeit briefly, thereby achieving its primary objective,” he said.

“Sand nourishment remains the most effective short-term coastal management strategy, allowing us to test coastal resilience before investing in permanent infrastructure, which may have unintended consequences.

“The city has long-intended to realign this section of the path to allow more space for natural coastal processes and intends to commence planning this realignment in the near future.”

Mr Camins said Monday’s swells were a “significant” coastal event, with wave heights reaching their highest recorded levels in King George Sound since 2017.

Albany Boardriders president Anthony Moir said the major swell could have shifted some of the rocks in the partially built Southern Ocean Surf Reef, which is due for completion in June, but didn’t think shifts in the rocks were anything to be worried about yet.

Mr Moir said the group had been told contractors Heron Construction were readying to take a survey of the reef built so far, but said this was a scheduled part of the process of constructing the reef, not due to concerns following Monday’s wild conditions.

“It was definitely a unique swell, but you have to remember that it’s technically a construction site, the reef isn’t completed yet, so it stands to reason that the rocks haven’t settled yet and are still shifting around,” he said.

“I think we should stand back and let the experts do their job and wait for what their monitoring tells us before we jump to any conclusions about how it’s progressing.”