Why are the southern Gold Coast beaches so wide?
• At the beginning of the project there was a need to transport large quantities of sand greater than the natural supply rate to catch up and rebuild the badly eroded southern Gold Coast beaches. • It was expected that the large catch up sand quantities would disperse and spread along the southern Gold Coast beaches fairly quickly under the influence of seasonal and severe weather conditions. However there have been unusually calm weather conditions since the project started in 2000 and dispersal of the sand has not occurred as quickly as anticipated. The peak of the sand volume has moved along the coast from Rainbow Bay and is now moving through North Kirra. • A large amount of sand has moved out of Coolangatta Bay and trends show that this will continue to happen (see FAQ 17). • There is evidence that the sand mass at Kirra is beginning to disperse. Between July 2005 and July 2008 over 140,000 cubic metres of sand have moved northwards from the nearshore and offshore underwater parts
