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Could it happen in South Australia?

The severe beach erosion of the last few days on the Central Coast of NSW was well publicised, with graphic photos and videos of houses teetering on the edge of cliffs, with combined high tides and large swell crashing into the beach below, stripping away the soil under the houses as the owners look on in fear of their multi-million dollar properties falling into the ocean.

Image courtesy of The Guardian

Could this Coastal Erosion happen to us in South Australia?

Yes, but not to the same extent.

Sydney and the NSW coast in general fronts onto a high energy beach, which is often pounded directly by ocean swell. Much of the coastal development in South Australia is in the two main gulfs, Spencer and St Vincents, and the wave action in these is not as extreme as on an open ocean beach. Other development along the coast is often in semi-enclosed bays.

Also, Sydney and some areas of the NSW coast are more heavily populated, bringing more pressure to bear on building very close to the beach.

The coastline of Adelaide is in St Vincents Gulf and hence is more protected than an ocean beach, but has also generally been well armoured with rock revetment seawalls along much of its length, protecting it from on-going erosion.

Coastal Erosion control in South Australia

However, there are many spots around our coast which are a concern in regards coastal erosion impacting or threatening to destroy development. This is often shacks or groups of shacks built very close to the beach, but can also include infrastructure such as pipelines or roads.

These images show the pre-treatment beach erosion, then after the installation of an erosion control rock revetment wall. The batter above the wall can now be re-vegetated.

The before and after photos above are typical of rock seawall protection Magryn can design and arrange installation for to protect properties against the erosion threat which may damage or destroy buildings adjacent the beach.

Please don’t hesitate to call us should you be concerned about the safety of your assets.

Magryn often deals with coastal erosion control to protect these assets, and we have designed works to counteract this threat.