CONFIDENT: Patrick Johnson said the wall had worked in South Africa. Picture: Nathalie Craig
AN INTERLOCKING concrete block system installed along Jimmys Beach is one possible solution being offered to the ongoing erosion problem.
Patrick Johnson of AuSSea Walls came to speak to members of the Myall River Action Group and the Winda Woppa Association about his product last week.
Mr Johnson said the blocks in his product interlocked to remove the tumble effect incurred by rock wall systems during storm sea battering.
He said once installed, the wall encouraged sand to build at its base which added to its strength.
"This makes the wall incredibly stable and achieves its goal of withstanding erosion even in the most extreme of conditions," he said.
The wall is modelled off a product invented and designed in South Africa more than 20 years ago.
"It completely solved the problem on the Durban beach front," he said.
The blocks cost $1700 per square metre. An initial estimate for protecting the road would see a 800 square metre wall at a cost of about $1.3 million.
The council's manager of parks and recreation David Bortfeld said the council had not dismissed the sea wall as an option to stop the erosion. He said it would most likely be considered as a possible option in a report due to be finished in September. Members from the Winda Woppa Association said while the wall would act as a final barrier to stop the road and houses being eaten away it needed to be noted that Jimmys Beach was an estuarine beach.
This means the beach does not have sand replenishment coming into its system as the sand movement is confined within the port. This would mean the sand replenishment program would have continue in the event of a severe storm, however, there would no longer be an emergency threat to the road and houses.
"This would provide a win-win solution, by using sand taken from the eastern channel and employing a sand shifter operation to replenish sand when and where needed," Myall River Action Group's Gordon Grainger said.
"When weighed against the continual ongoing, plus emergency costs, it seems reasonable."
