More time needed to complete sand sausage maintenance

DIFFICULT beach conditions last week and the need for repairs to some displaced sand bags has extended the time needed for maintenance work on the shoreline protection system at St Clair.

The system, called Elcorock, consists of sandfilled geotextile containers built to form a stabilising, defensive barrier against coastal erosion.

The two large meshcovered layers of the main protective structure at St Clair remained intact but some of the smaller sand bags protecting the base of the large sand sausage structure had been dragged down the beach by high tides and winter storms.

An excavator was used to retrieve the buried bags, and the most difficult work of finding them and digging them out was completed by the end of last week.

But some bags had been damaged and had to be repaired before being repositioned, so the work could not be completed in the three to five days initially estimated.

Once the bags had been placed back in position, they were held there by poles driven deep into the sand.

In total, up to 24 poles are to be installed to stabilise the repositioned bags.

The final number of poles needed will depend on ground conditions and the stability of individual bags, Dunedin City Council 3 waters group manager Tom Dyer said yesterday.

Initially the work was expected to cost around $28,000 and Mr Dyer said the DCC did not expect the overall cost of the project to increase substantially because of the extra three days needed to complete the repairs.