The dune cordons in Fish Hoek and Glencairn have deteriorated and lost much of their ability to protect the surrounding infrastructure from windblown sand, such as parking lots, roads and beach access.
Heavy machinery, such as dozers, excavators and dump trucks, will be used to re-profile the dunes, and teams will install wind nets and populate the dunes with appropriate plants and irrigation. Work will continue until June 2024, pending any unforeseen delays.
The goal is to restore the dunes so that they can once again act as natural buffers against storm surges and the projected impact of sea-level rise.
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In Fish Hoek, the 950-metre-long dune stretching from the Fish Hoek lighthouse to Clovelly Corner will be reprofiled. The dune area will be approximately 4.5 hectares in size and will be populated with 82 668 plants. A total of 40 000 m³ of sand will be moved, with 9 571 m³ returning to the ocean.
As part of the dune restoration, 6.5 kilometres of wind netting will be installed, and approximately 22 708 plants will be searched for and saved for re-use on-site.
The small dune on the beach opposite the recently upgraded parking area in Glencairn will also be reprofiled, and 3 400 m³ of sand will be moved, 800 m³ of which will be returned to the ocean.
A total of 4 500 m² will be vegetated with 20 900 plants, and 1 000 plants will be rescued and re-used on-site. 250 bales of straw will be used to stabilise the newly profiled dunes.
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Picture: Supplied