The strange sight of a boat on Port beach that looks like it broke a pipe while dripping a rainbow into the ocean is actually part of the region’s sand erosion solution.
Thousands of cubic meters of sand are being dredged from the deepwater canal of Fremantle Harbor and are being “rainbowed” on the beach for a period of two weeks.
Up to 30,000 cubic meters of sand and water will be thrown through a hose into the nearby coastal area for 14 days, with an additional 120,000 cubic meters to be recovered from the canal next year.
Your local newspaper, whenever you want. Camera icon The rainbow in Port Beach on Wednesday. Credit: City of Fremantle / supplied
Erosion is far from a new problem in Port Beach, but the challenge has reached new heights in recent years, with continued degradation a concern for beach lovers, but an even greater headache for places like Port Coast restaurant, located a few meters from the waves.
In 2019, the state government considered Port Beach as the most worrying of all WA coastal erosion hotspots.
Fremantle Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge said the sand feeding program was a short-term buffer to protect the coast from erosion and reclaim meters from the beach razed every winter.
“[It] it has been developed to provide a beach wide enough so that, with the planned movement of the placed sand, there is still a sufficient buffer against erosion caused by severe storms, ”he said.
Parts of the beach, including Sandtrax Beach, are closed for safety reasons during the works, which take place every day at high tide.