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A new permanent, buried, pipeline to pump dredged material to Castletown Beach is being used for the first time as work begins to clear the build-up of sand at Bandy Creek Boat Harbour at Esperance.
The $2.3 million four month dredging campaign is expected to remove a record amount of material from the harbour, in excess of 60,000 cubic meters, restoring channel depths at the entrance and reducing the sand trap adjacent to the eastern breakwater to improve navigation and safety.
Department of Transport (DoT) Director of Coastal Facilities Shelley Grice said that more than 40,000 cubic meters of dredged material will be pumped via the new 3.6 kilometer pipeline and used to widen Castletown Beach.
“ The remaining dredged material will be pumped about one kilometer east of the harbour to maintain the natural coastal processes interrupted by the breakwaters ,” Ms Grice said.
Following completion of a successful trial in 2021 using a temporary pipeline, funding of $750,000, from the Coastal Adaptation and Protection Major Project Fund under CoastWA, was allocated towards the permanent infrastructure.