• Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Local History
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Read Our Newspapers Online
    • Read the Latest Western Port News
    • Read the Latest Mornington News
    • Read the Latest Southern Peninsula News
    • Read the Latest Frankston Times
    • Read the Latest Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News
  • Competition
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • Riding a wave for therapy
  • Fisher to take over at Baxter
  • Hunter finds success with Thronum progeny
  • Stonecats continue their dominance, Langwarrin first-quarter blitz sets up win
  • Railway Commissioners’ visit to the peninsula
  • Jetty repair in the budget pipeline
  • Bus shelters vandalised
  • Cars stolen after break-ins
Facebook Twitter
MPNEWSMPNEWS
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Local History
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Competition
MPNEWSMPNEWS
Home»Latest News»Nature forces rethink on cliff works
Latest News

Nature forces rethink on cliff works

By Keith PlattSeptember 17, 2018Updated:September 17, 2018No Comments3 Mins Read
HEAVY earthmoving equipment being used built a rock wall to protect the base of eroding cliffs at Mt Martha North beach, top; rolls of geotextile cloth are being incorporated in the structure, above; and beach box owners have been told to stay away from their properties, some of which are leaning sideways of have stumps left high and dry by erosion. Pictures: Keith Platt
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email
HEAVY earthmoving equipment being used to build a rock wall to protect the base of eroding cliffs at Mt Martha North beach, top; rolls of geotextile cloth are being incorporated in the structure, below; and beach box owners have been told to stay away from their properties, some of which are leaning sideways have stumps left high and dry by erosion. Pictures: Keith Platt

Unexpected erosion has caused delays and a change in engineers’ plans to protect crumbling cliffs at Mt Martha North beach.

The use of a geotextile sand tube was abandoned after several storms in June and July. Instead, the wall designed to prevent further erosion at the base of the cliff will be built solely using geotextile blankets and rocks.

Sand will still be imported from the beach north of the Balcombe Estuary “to top up the beach and inhibit undermining of the [cliff] toe”, according to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.

Beach box owners have been told the beach is closed and they cannot repair their property – on Crown Land leased through Mornington Peninsula Shire – while the cliff works are underway.

Many of the beach boxes are either sagging or leaning and some have stumps that are hanging above ground. Several have been demolished.

However, the $880,000 works currently underway and expected to be completed this month, are only seen as a temporary solution to erosion problems at the beach.

Consultants Water Technology has been hired to assess the four long term solutions identified in its 2017 report which warned that the continued erosion could eventually effect the Esplanade above Mt Martha North Beach (“Beach repairs could cost $4m” The News 30/10/17).

The report recommended removing all boat sheds at Mt Martha north unless action was taken to stop further erosion of the cliff and beach.

Options contained in the report include building rock walls and groynes across the beach or an offshore breakwater to slow the loss of thousands of cubic metres of sand needed to “renourish” the beach.

“An analysis of the four engineering recommendations will assess the environmental, social, technical and cost of each option, to determine which are the most feasible to model in detail,” the latest “stakeholder update” issued by the DELWP states.

“Following a series of storms and persistent northerly and north-westerly winds in June and July, erosion on the beach was so severe that clay and bedrock were exposed. This resulted in an amendment to the design, because the geotextile sand tube could not be placed at the more southerly end as the sand would have washed away with the tides,” the update stated.

“This section has instead been constructed solely of rock and geotextile. It is possible that only rock will be encapsulated in the geotextile in the northerly section as well.”

“Tension cracks” in the cliff had necessitated “emergency trimming of the cliff face” in late August.

“These cracks were deemed at risk of collapse during placement of the rocks if not manually removed.

“Traditional Owner representatives were on site to inspect the removed material for cultural heritage values, but nothing of significance was identified. The works were completed under supervision of geotechnical engineers.”

First published in the Mornington News – 18 September 2018

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

Shire ‘no’ to Esso’s bid for power

June 27, 2022

Call for panel to consider future of green wedge

June 27, 2022

Waste not wanted – ‘report dumpers’

June 27, 2022

Building fire risk ‘update’ by August

June 27, 2022
Add A Comment

Comments are closed.

Weather
Jun 30, 2022 - Thu
Mornington, Australia
12°C
broken clouds
broken clouds
1 m/s, NW
63%
768.82 mmHg
thu06/30 fri07/01 sat07/02 sun07/03 mon07/04
light rain
12/11°C
light rain
11/10°C
light rain
11/9°C
overcast clouds
11/9°C
broken clouds
10/9°C
Peninsula Essence Magazine

Click here to read

June 27, 2022
Peninsula Kids Magazine

Click here to read

May 26, 2022
Council Watch

Keeping watch on councillor costs

June 27, 2022

Leadership lacking for ‘neutral’ policy

June 20, 2022
Interview

Awards help call Australia home

June 20, 2022
Property of the Week

278 Dundas Street, Rye

May 11, 2022
100 Years Ago This Week

Railway Commissioners’ visit to the peninsula

June 28, 2022
Contact
Street: 63 Watt Road, Mornington, 3931
Mailing: PO Box 588, Hastings, 3915
Menu
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Local History
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Competition
About

Established in 2006, Mornington Peninsula News Group (MPNG) is a locally owned and operated, independent media company.

MPNG publishes five weekly community newspapers: the Western Port News, Mornington News, Southern Peninsula News, Frankston Times and Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News.

MPNG also publishes two glossy magazines: Peninsula Essence and Peninsula Kids.

Facebook Twitter
© 2022 Mornington Peninsula News Group.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.