TWEED SAND BYPASSING TRANSITION PROJECT

Abstract

The Tweed River is located in New South Wales, Australia, just south of the state border with Queensland. The Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypass Project, aka Tweed Sand Bypassing (TSB), was formulated to overcome problems caused by the extension of the Tweed River entrance training walls in the 1960s (Dyson et al., 2001). These issues were primarily: the interception of natural longshore movement of sand, resulting in loss of sand supply to the southern Gold Coast beaches; and sand movement into the river entrance with consequential impacts on vessel navigation. TSB is a joint initiative of the New South Wales and Queensland State Governments. The TSB is similar to the nearby Gold Coast Seaway Sand Bypass (GCSSB) that was commissioned in 1986 to stabiles the Nerang River entrance (Clausner, 1989). Together, these two facilities have come to represent best practice outcomes in sustainable coastal management. A Transition Project was established by TSB to identify the most appropriate operational system / model post-expiry of the CA and to ensure ongoing effective coastal management that meets the legislated objectives. The Transition Project has provided a unique opportunity to improve how TSB functions through the exploration of available options and analysis of historical operational performance.