Erosion of Sandringham beaches

Photo from top of Red Bluff 2nd March 2013 demonstrating saw tooth
appearance of the Sandringham foreshore due to sand shifting north from
prevailing south / south-westerly winds that occur seasonally especially from
January till April of every year.

Note the groyne effect: north of both groynes there is very little sand to protect
the base of the cliffs as most of the sand is built up south of both groynes. The
Royal Ave groyne is located south (the bottom groyne in photo) of the Southey St
groyne. The Royal Ave groyne was constructed in 1990 and the Southey St groyne
was constructed in 2007 to protect the Royal Ave beach and cliffs from eroding.
The areas of beach that are depleted of sand (north of groynes) offer little
protection of our cliffs and dunes from wave action, especially at times of storms
and large waves. This is called Terminal Groyne Syndrome. It is a well known
adverse phenomenon due to hard structures interfering with sand movement e.g.
rock groynes. [Ref Wikipedia]
Quoting Wikipedia -
"The purpose of a groyne is to create and maintain a healthy beach on its updrift side, which in turn
provides protection to the land behind. These effects are achieved through two main processes. First,
groynes act as a barrier to physically stop sediment transport (sand) in the direction of longshore
transport through the system. This causes a build-up of the beach on the groyne's updrift side. Secondly,
groynes interrupt the tidal flow forcing the tidal current further offshore beyond the groyne end. This
slows the tidal current inshore causing the deposition of heavier sediments and encouraging the beach to
grow in size.

However, this is often accompanied by accelerated erosion of the downdrift beach, known as terminal
groyne syndrome, as it occurs after the terminal groyne, which receives little or no sand via longshore
transport. (It is important to realize that groynes do not add any new sand to the beach, but merely
retain some of the existing sand on the updrift side of the groin.) If a groyne is correctly designed, then
the amount of material it can hold will be limited, and excess sediment will be free to move on through
the system. However, if a groyne is too large it may trap all sediment reaching it and thiscan cause
severe beach erosion problems on the down-drift side, which in turn can result in coastal erosion
problems."

The good news is that the upper parts of the Royal Ave cliffs have stabilised and
we believe that this has happened largely due to restoration of the Royal Ave car-
park by Council in 2010/11 causing less run off and seepage of water through the
cliffs, resulting in reduction of upper cliff erosion. There has also been some
protection of the lower cliffs from sand build up just south of the new Southey St
groyne since 2007.

Since the construction of the new Southey St groyne in January 2007, we have
witnessed the gradual destruction of the base of these cliffs, the disappearance of
the sand dunes and vegetation loss as demonstrated in the following photos in
chronological order of the Tennyson-Southey St beaches.
Photo of Sandringham beach foreshore prior to Southey St groyne construction (2007) by John Amiet

Note extensive wide sandy beach, sand dunes and fencing at the base of the Southey-Tennyson St cliffs
to the left of each photo that have been there for many, many years despite many storms. These were
never disrupted until the Southey St groyne construction in 2007.
Photo of Sandringham beach foreshore prior to Southey St groyne construction (2007) by Pauline
Reynolds (available on post cards)
February 2007, following construction of Southey St groyne. Note intact fence, dunes and vegetation at
the base of the cliffs, and lack of sand just in front (north) of groyne.
3rd March 2007
3rd March 2007
21st March 2007
17th September 2007
1st October 2007
8th October 2007
22nd December 2007
13th February 2008
2nd March 08
6th April 2008
1st July 2008
4th July 2008
5th July 2008
5th July 2008
14th July 2008
6th September 2008
24th February 2009
28th Feb 2009
31 March 2009
25th August 2009
2nd March 2013
16th March 2013
Royal Ave beach -note fencing at base of cliffs:

29 February 2012
Note north of Royal Ave groyne, wave action onto cliffs 20th February 2013
Further south of Royal Ave groyne. Note destruction of fencing and loss of vegetation from
wave action 3rd March 2013.

Note photos below dated 16th March 2013 the difficulty people face to cross Royal Ave beach
even at low tide (calm weather and flat waves).