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Environmental management > Coast and oceans > Beaches and dunes > Tweed River Sandbypassing Project

Project background and history
Project background | milestone events | History of sand nourishment

Project background
Since its extension in the 1960s the breakwater at the entrance
to the Tweed River has trapped and reduced the supply of sand which normally would have been transported to southern Gold Coast beaches by wave action and near shore currents.
Eventually the sand moved past the end of the breakwater and created a large, shallow sand bar at the Tweed River entrance that was hazardous to navigation. The Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Project (TRESBP) has been devised by the Queensland and New South Wales Governments to overcome these problems. The joint project is being conducted in two stages. The first stage, which is now complete, involved dredging more than three million cubic metres of sand from the Tweed Bar and entrance to create a navigable channel and to ‘nourish’ the southern Gold Coast beaches.
That is, to replace sand on the eroded beaches to bring them back to a condition similar to that which existed before the breakwaters were extended in the 1960s.

The second stage, in progress, provides for the operation of a permanent sand bypassing system. Sand that arrives at the permanent system on the southern side of the Tweed River entrance is trapped and pumped to the southern Gold Coast beaches.

A contract was executed on the 22 December 1999 with McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust.) Pty Ltd to design, construct and operate
this system. This system is now in the operational phase.

Low Pressure pump station during construction. Clean water is pumped from inside the river entrance back to the Control Building.

Chronology of TRESBP milestone events


Key dates 


Milestone event
1962-1965  Extension of Tweed River (NSW) training walls seaward by 380m
1967  Landmark erosion of all Gold Coast
beaches. All recovered except southern Gold Coast beach at Coolangatta
1973-74  Erosion of Kirra Beach caravan park and construction of sea wall
1974-75  Beach nourishment at Kirra beach (765,000m3)
1985  Beach nourishment at North Kirra beach (315,000 m3)
1988  Beach nourishment to near-shore zone near Kirra beach (1,500,000 m3)
1989-90  Southern Gold Coast Beach Nourishment Project (3,600,000m3)
2 June 1989  Wal Murray (NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Public Works) met with Don Neal and Mike Ahern (Qld Premier) to discuss options for co-operative approach to resolve issues relating to the impact of the Tweed River training walls on the Gold Coast beaches
31 July 1989  Queensland Cabinet agrees to seek further negotiations by a letter from Queensland Premier (Mike Ahern) to NSW Deputy Premier and minister for Public Works (Wal Murray)
May 1991  Report prepared on Tweed River Entrance NSW/Qld sand transfer options for both states to provide basis for negotiations
31 March 1994  Heads of Agreement between the States of New South Wales and Queensland executed by the Premiers of each state
October 1994  Stage 1 EIS-IAS (Environmental Impact Study - Impact Assessment Study) finalised
2 March 1995  Deed of Agreement signed by the respective Queensland and NSW Ministers which commits the governments to undertake cost sharing of the entrance dredging, beach nourishment and construction and operation in perpetuity of a sand bypass system
22 November 1995  Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Act 1995 (NSW)
23 November 1995  Qld Impact Assessment Review Report for Stage 1 EIS-IAS
1995-96 Stage 1A  Dredging of Tweed River Entrance and associated nourishment of the southern Gold Coast beaches (2,300,000m3)
1997-98 Stage 1B  Dredging of Tweed River Entrance and associated nourishment of the southern Gold Coast beaches (800,000m3)
July 1997  Stage 2 EIS-IAS finalised
July-August 1997 Public exhibition of Stage 2 EIS-IAS and submissions report called for
10 February 1998  Stage 2 Call for Proposals closed
5 March 1998 Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Act 1998 (Qld)
March 1998  Qld Impact Assessment Review Report for Stage 2 EIS-IAS
5 November 1998  Stage 2  Call for Detailed Proposals closed
22 December 1999  Stage 2 Execution of Agreements and financial close of negotiations
February 2000  Construction of permanent sand bypassing system
March 2001  Construction of permanent sand bypassing system completed
4 May 2001 Permanent sand bypass system officially commissioned
2001-2024  Sand bypassing contract continues
2024  New contract for sand bypassing to be let
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MV Port Frederick placing sand
dredged from the river entrance
offshore from the southern
Gold Coast beaches

TRESBP history of sand nourishment
Stage 1A began in 1995 after a program of community consultation and environmental studies. A contract was awarded for dredging and beach nourishment. From April to June 1995 the ‘Pearl River’, the world’s largest ocean-going dredge, worked on the outer edge of the Tweed River bar.

Smaller dredges ‘Ngamotu’ and ‘Krankeloon’ continued dredging at the river entrance and across the bar, widening and deepening the entrance channel.

The three dredges removed over two million cubic metres of sand which was deposited on or near the shores of Rainbow Bay, Greenmount, Coolangatta, Kirra and North Kirra Beaches. Stage 1A was completed in August 1996 having successfully improved navigation at the Tweed River entrance and nourished the southern Gold Coast beaches.
Stage 1B involved further dredging and beach nourishment to keep the channel open and prevent beach erosion.

The dredges 'Port Frederick' and 'Faucon' were used for this work. These vessels placed sand in much shallower depths than was deposited near shore in Stage 1A. This created sand reserves which were moved onto Gold Coast beaches by wave action. Stage 1B also involved recovering and removing a wrecked fishing vessel 'Idaho' from near the breakwater. The 'Idaho' sank on the dangerous bar in December 1979 but became exposed during the Stage 1A works. Dredging and placement of 800,000 cubic metres began in August 1997 and finished in February 1999. A video monitoring project was used to observe beach changes at Rainbow Bay and Coolangatta beaches.

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Last updated: 28 November 2003