Work begins on establishment of Port Beach dunes

Following the sand renourishment project at Port Beach, the next stage of works to establish dunes at the artificial beach has begun.

Earthworks are now underway and will be carried out as weather and tides permit.

The $500,000 project is funded by the Department of Transport’s Hotspot Coastal Adaptation and Protection Grants and is being managed by the Department of Transport, Fremantle Ports and the City of Fremantle.

A coastal engineer has been appointed to oversee the operation.

In the coming months, the dunes will be stabilised with coir matting, mulching and vegetation and a new beach access path will be created.

The front face of the new dunes will be mulched with Flexterra, a wood fibre material, to help the seeds germinate.

Flexterra is 100 per cent biodegradable and has a slight green colouration that is expected to fade within several weeks.

A section of the Sandtrax carpark will remain closed during the works and there will also be work on drainage modification at the Port Beach carpark.

The project is expected to finish in mid-September.

Fremantle Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge said the City had been advised that the sand on the beach would continue to shift position during the dune building.

“About 150,000 cubic metres of sand were placed on Port Beach in a first for Western Australia,” she said.

“The beach will continue to change as the dunes are being built and the weather and waves move the sand around.

“The advice is that the sand will settle back in place in the coming months and once complete this work will help stabilise Port Beach for the next ten years.”