Port Beach sand nourishment wraps up

The ground-breaking Port Beach sand nourishment project is now complete, the City of Fremantle said.

In the latest and final stage of works, 150,000m³ of sand was dredged from Fremantle Port’s deep water channel during February and March and used to extend the beach. 

The Port Beach sand nourishment project is the first time ‘rainbowing’, a visually spectacular technique which involves the pumping of a mixture of dredged sand and water into a high arc through the air and onto the nearshore area, has been employed in Western Australia.

The project was a collaboration between City of Fremantle, Fremantle Ports and Department of Transport.

Works were completed in two stages, with an initial 92,400m³ of sand placed between July and October 2022.

Fremantle Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge said that the works were planned to provide protection against erosion for around 10 years—although this will depend on the weather patterns.

“This project has made a significant and visible difference to the beach, imagine filling a hole 150 metres long, 100 metres wide and 10 metres deep – that’s a lot of sand,” said the mayor.

“The real test comes when we head into the winter months and brace for those strong storm fronts. We’ll be watching closely to monitor the effects of these works.”

“We’ve still got work to do as we move towards the next step of this project, to undertake dune reestablishment and revegetation along Sandtrax, which we anticipate will be completed this autumn and winter.”

The impact of the sand nourishment project has been welcomed by beachgoers who also had the benefit of being able to access their favourite swimming venue throughout the project.