[Waves crashing] (Introductory text: Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Project (TRESBP)) (Copyright text: (c)State of New South Wales 2010 This program is subject to the conditions of use at www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/legal/avconditions NSW Government logo Queensland Government logo The information in this "Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Project" video clip, or DVD if issued as a DVD, is of a general nature. Users are reminded of the need to ensure that information upon which they rely is up-to-date, and to check currency of the information with an independent advisor.) (Text and logos: TRESBP partners are: NSW Government logo Gold Coast City Council logo Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Company logo Queensland Government logo Tweed Shire Council logo McConnell Dowell logo) (0:16)[Music playing] >>NARRATOR: The Tweed River is NSW northern-most river. A sand-bypassing system started in 2001 managed by the NSW and Queensland governments, and local councils; operated under contract.(0:30) Sand is piped from a jetty south of the Tweed River, near the state border under the River, under roadways through Tweed Heads, NSW, and Coolangatta on Queensland’s southern Gold Coast and back to the ocean.(0:55) Occasional dredging at the Tweed River entrance is also carried out as part of the sand bypassing process.(1:04) The Tweed River and valley are beautiful. For early industries and transport— the river was vital. But at the mouth of the Tweed River, the sand bar was dangerous.(1:22) In the 1890s, rock walls were constructed north and south of the river entrance to improve river navigation. In the 1960s, the walls were extended seawards— by almost 400 metres. But sand accumulated south of the river entrance walls and eventually moved into the river entrance.(1:51) (1:56)[Music fades and video background noises of the ocean start] North of the river are the popular beaches of the southern Gold Coast; growing in popularity since the 1940s, and 50s. Average wave energy is high.(2:09) >>WAYNE 'RABBIT' BARTHOLOMEW: This place is very prone, very vulnerable to cyclones. Particularly the beaches and, the beaches are the lifeblood of the town. Like in the 1970s when we had really bad erosion a lot of business went broke in Coolangatta; A lot of people moved on.(2:23) >>NARRATOR: Dozens of severe storms hit the Gold Coast in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. During a ‘54 cyclone, waves brought 2 metres of water onto the road at Kirra, picking up cars. In ’67 a series of cyclones wrecked beaches. In 72, and 74 cyclones again brought massive damage.(2:50) Beaches were stripped of sand, and nearby development threatened.(2:56) There was little natural replenishment of the sand. Sand was prevented by the river-wall extensions from its northward drift to nourish beaches.(3:10) (3:09)[Natural ocean background noises fade and music starts] Today, southern Gold Coast beaches are nourished by ocean sand, transferred through the bypass system— with most sand going to East Snapper Rocks.(3:23) Pipes begin at the pump house and jetty at Letitia Spit— south of the Tweed River. Letitia Spit is Bundjalung country; the pumphouse and jetty are located there with consent from the Tweed Byron Local Aboriginal Land Council.(3:40) Along the 450-metre long jetty are ten submerged jet pumps, working mostly at night—with four operating at one time. These jet pumps –with no moving parts— work by pressurised water from the Tweed River.(3:58) Waves carry clean, drifting ocean sand into cone-shaped hollows on the seabed. This series of cones forms a sand-trap beneath the jetty. Pumps lift the sand from the bed of the ocean up to the jetty.(4:18) Bigger waves from the south or east bring more sand. The sand and water mixture flows by gravity to the landward end of the jetty; to a vibrating screen removing waste.(4:33) Sand is back in the ocean within five minutes.(4:38) Most is transported here, to East Snapper Rocks— visible from Point Danger— where it flows back to the ocean to drift north.(4:50) Outlets at West Snapper Rocks and Kirra Point operate only occasionally.(4:55) At Duranbah, twice a year and as needed after storm erosion, sand is piped through temporary pipes onto the beach, to maintain beach and surfing conditions.(5:09) Tweed Shire Council assists with work at Duranbah and with consulting the Tweed Community.(5:16) The jetty traps the majority of drifting ocean sand, but can’t pick up all natural drift— especially in stormy conditions.(5:26) Sand missed by the jetty is picked up by a floating dredge, operating periodically at the Tweed River entrance.(5:35) The dredge places the sand off Point Danger where natural swells deliver it to southern Gold Coast beaches.(5:44) The 4-kilometre pipe network, the jetty-mounted pumping system and, the floating dredge together make up the ongoing sand-bypassing system.(5:55) (6:04)[Music fades and video background noises of the ocean start] Boat skippers still need to be cautious at the Tweed River entrance, as there’s a sand bank to the south. But Bernie Gabriel— with more than forty years volunteer marine rescue experience— says boating is significantly safer since the sand bypassing system.(6:21) >>BERNIE GABRIELL: It’s shifted the big main sand bank away from the mouth of the river. It’s still over to our southern side as we’ve said, but that is contributing a lot to it. The bar itself now, mostly, on good days, and there’s more good days than bad, is perfectly safe to cross.(6:36) (6:36)[Natural video background noise ends and music starts] >>NARRATOR: The bypassing facility, in its early years from 2001, transferred large volumes to rebuild sand-depleted Southern Gold Coast beaches, and to clear the Tweed River entrance.(6:54) The following years, from 2001 to 2008, were unusually calm along this part of the coast with few severe storms moving or dispersing sand— leaving beaches temporarily wide.(7:09) In 2009, storms increased sand dispersal, and helped beaches continue reshaping and adjusting.(7:19) Griffith University’s Rodger Tomlinson says the large volumes of sand through the bypassing system in its early years were warranted.(7:31) He says without storms, beaches are wide; beach shapes and conditions change.(7:39) (7:39)[Music fades and plays at a low volume while the video background is audible] >>PROFESOR RODGER TOMLINSON: If we did have a sequence now of major storm activity we would see redistribution of that sand further to the north due to the normal coastal processes and the beaches here at Rainbow, Coolangatta and Kirra would revert back to a narrower width but one that was still capable of withstanding a reasonable-sized major storm event.(8:00) (8:00)[Video background noise ends and music returns to regular volume] >>NARRATOR: These beaches, historically, have always fluctuated in size– building up and eroding, in cycles.(8:10) For the sand bypassing project: monitoring the environment, tracking beach shapes, mapping the seabed, and consulting the community—are all important, and carefully carried out.(8:27) (8:24)[Music ends] (8:28)[Oeanic video background noise starts] With the return of drifting sand along this coastline— beach shapes and surf breaks fluctuate naturally, as they did before the Tweed River wall extensions of the 1960s.(8:41) Former world surfing champion Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew says good surf breaks are important; so too is sand.(8:51) >>WAYNE 'RABBIT' BARTHOLOMEW: We don’t want to see diminishing surf amenity. We want to get all our surf breaks back, but we still- we need the sand; and the town needs the sand, so, we have to find that balance moving forward.(9:03) (9:04)[Oceanic video background noise ends and music starts] >>NARRATOR: Sand bypassing began at the Tweed River entrance in 2001— after legislation went through NSW and Qld parliaments in the 1990s.(9:18) Operations and maintenance at the jetty are carried out by contractors— a subsidiary of engineering firm McConnell Dowell, which designed and built the system.(9:29) The Tweed sand-bypassing-system is a complex coastal-engineering and environmental-management activity Costing 9 million dollars annually, funded equally by NSW and Qld.(9:46) Gold Coast City Council contributes half the Qld share, and also looks after beaches here, for residents and visitors.(9:56) It’s the sand bypassing system that restores the ocean’s drifting sand northward along this coastline: —improving Tweed River entrance navigability and safety; and —ensuring southern Gold Coast beaches are replenished with sand, protected against future storms.(10:18) [Music playing] (Sources text: Historical images & footage courtesy of: Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library Network Ten Tweed River Regional Museum & Tweed Heads Historical Society New South Wales Government Queensland Government Tweed Valley still images courtesy of: Tweed Tourism Inc.) (Credits text: narration- Helen Merkel camera- Nick Zammit aerial footage- fotomedia underwater footage- Ian Banks; Gilbert Diving news footage (1970s)- Gerry Williams animation- Nick Zammit; Rex Forward sound recordist- Wayne McKelvie post production- Red Polar Pictures) (Credits text: This is a production from: Kate Benecke Communications Email: kateben@quikdsl.com.au Mobile: +61 4 02530646 & Red Polar Pictures Thanks to those whose work or images contributed to this film) (Text and logos: TRESBP partners are: NSW Government logo Gold Coast City Council logo Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Company logo Queensland Government logo Tweed Shire Council logo McConnell Dowell logo) (More information text: For more on TRESBP: www.tweedsandbypass.nsw.gov.au (c)2010)