The Coastal Management Team of the City of Cape Town is making good progress with the re-profiling of the dunes along Fish Hoek Beach. This dune rehabilitation project will help trap windblown sand, protecting public and private infrastructure near the beach.
Residents can expect to see fewer sand-smothered buildings, roads and railway tracks once the dunes are established.
Also read: Work begins to restore and re-profile the dunes in Fish Hoek and Glencairn
Alderman Eddie Andrews, the City’s deputy mayor and mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment, paid a visit to the construction site to check on the progress.
The project is taking place along a 1.5km stretch of coastline.
The Fish Hoek dune project’s main goal is to reprofile the dunes by reducing the volume of sand to create a profile more typical of foredunes. None of the dunes at Fish Hoek or Glencairn are typical foredunes in the sense that they are narrow and steep rather than having a broader base and a lower or flatter profile.
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The dunes will be reprofiled and revegetated with a variety of coastally adapted plant species, as has been successfully demonstrated at Hout Bay.
Approximately 22 710 plants will be rescued from the dune system and reused. All in all, around 82,670 plants will be planted. Once the vegetation is established, it will be easier to maintain the dunes in the long term.
‘At this stage, the earthworks of the Fish Hoek dune rehabilitation project are nearly complete, and if all goes according to plan, it is anticipated that the project should be fully implemented by July 2024,’ explained Alderman Eddie Andrews.
He continued, ‘It is important that we protect and manage these remaining dune systems, as they play a vital role in protecting the surrounding infrastructure from windblown sand. These systems will also buffer the Fish Hoek coastline against storm surge events and sea level rise.’
In the winter, coastal processes deposit sand on the beach, and in the summer, the dominant southerly winds transport it landward. The prevailing summer winds then transport this sand to Noordhoek. This process still exists, but currently, the sand can no longer move to Noordhoek and becomes trapped within the narrow dune belt.
The City will complete the following beach improvements over the next 12 months:
- Reprofile and vegetate the dunes (dune cordon stabilisation and rehabilitation).
- Over 4.5 hectares of the dune will be rehabilitated, with 40 000 square metres of sand moved and 9 570 square metres of sand returned to the ocean for circulation.
- Install an irrigation system to promote vegetation establishment.
- Install dune nets to help with dune stabilisation, trapping and the placement of windblown sand. Wind nets of approximately 6 500 metres in length will be installed.
- Restore beach access, pathways and fencing along the coast.
- Beach cleaning: Organic material and other waste items that may be uncovered from earthworks are collected daily during operations while the dune system is being rebuilt.
The beachfront in Fish Hoek stretches from the Galley restaurant in the south to Clovelly in the northeast. During the spring months, this 1.5km stretch of coastline is not only a popular recreation area and tourist attraction, but it is also a popular whale-watching location for both local and international visitors.
The Coastal Management Branch has taken advantage of the opportunity to include the Fish Hoek dune system, as well as Witsand, Kommetjie, Hout Bay, Table View and Gordon’s Bay, in its dune management plan.
The beach remains open to the public, but visitors are advised to avoid work areas, keep dogs on a leash and only access the beach via designated access pathways.
Also read:
The Sea Level Rise mural at Fish Hoek Beach will be receiving a revamp
Picture: City of Cape Town / Facebook