Race to sand the beaches

The sand storage area at A Berth, which is due to replace the one which had to be destroyed for the widening of the harbour mouth five years ago, is expected to be finished by December. It is hoped it will alleviate the problem of pumping sand on to Vetch's Beach. Sand from the dredger will be pumped straight into the hopper, and from there pumped up the coast to Durban's beaches, using a series of pump stations. Sand along this part of the coast washes northwards because of inshore currents. The harbour South Pier blocks the sand and stops the natural replenishing of Durban's beaches.

The sand storage area at A Berth, which is due to replace the one which had to be destroyed for the widening of the harbour mouth five years ago, is expected to be finished by December. It is hoped it will alleviate the problem of pumping sand on to Vetch's Beach. Sand from the dredger will be pumped straight into the hopper, and from there pumped up the coast to Durban's beaches, using a series of pump stations. Sand along this part of the coast washes northwards because of inshore currents. The harbour South Pier blocks the sand and stops the natural replenishing of Durban's beaches.

Published Oct 16, 2014

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Durban - Transnet National Ports Authority’s dredging maintenance manager for the Port of Durban, Clive Greyling, said the project to build the new hopper (which is a container that will house the sand that will be pumped north and all along the coast) at A-berth (at the Point near the Point Waterfront) was set to be completed by the end of January.

“But we are trying to fast-track this process so that it gets done before the December holidays. We want to be able to discharge sand directly on to the beaches that need replenishing via the municipality’s five pump houses.”

This will eliminate the need to pump sand on to Vetch’s and then spread it to other beaches.

 

He said that over the past two months they had, at the city’s request, pumped 160 000m³ of sand on to Vetch’s Beach. In a year they usually pumped between 500 000m³ and 600 000 m³.

Greyling said pumping would peak at times, because of the dredger’s availability.

“When the dredger is in the port, sand is delivered to the beaches. When the dredger leaves to attend to other ports, no sand is reclaimed and the beaches lose sand to the north. It would not make economic sense to have a dredger deliver (just) 50 000m³ of sand over a month.”

He added: “This is not excessive at all, because you must remember that Vetch’s is merely the starting point. It doesn’t stay there.”

“During the World Cup in 2010, to establish the public viewing area (in Durban Central), we pumped 1 million cubic metres of sand on to the beach. That might sound like a lot, but it’s already washed away.”

Greyling said that Transnet provided the dredging service at no charge to the city, and it cost them between R1 million and R2m.

The Ngwenya dredger had been de-commissioned, he said, and the Isandlwana had taken its place.

“This dredger is used from Saldanha to Richards Bay, so there has to be a schedule for its use. Durban beaches are usually topped up every 12 weeks.”

The newest dredger, called the Italeni, is a “grab dredger”, which is too small to use in the sand pumping process. It is instead used inside the port, to navigate into “tight corners”.

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