SUMMER BUMMER

It’s beach blues rather than blue flag as tides take their toll

AT the present rate of beach erosion, Alkantstrand might not be accessible for bathers this summer.

The city’s main summer attraction was last week again pounded by spring tide surges that heaped yet more damage on the beachfront.

And there’s little that can be done about it in the short or medium term, according to experts.

Tuesday and Wednesday saw powerful breakers tear into the fragile dune front from the main beach northwards, leaving a scattered trail of uprooted trees, poles, rocks, concrete and other debris.

Had it not been for the geobag defensive wall that was built in 2016, the lifeguard house might well have suffered more damage than just the brick paving that was lifted by the waves.

The ZO has documented the everincreasing damage, specifically noting that the coastal dune front is slowly and steadily retreating to the point that there is hardly any beach left, especially at high tide.

There is no quick fix, with global warming and failure of Transnet’s dredging services to meet their contractual obligations with respect to dredge spoil being pumped back onto the beaches, being blamed.

Nor should the city and district municipalities be held accountable, according to a local engineer who has investigated the problem for almost five decades.

“The protection of the coastline is a national responsibility, not that of the municipalities,“he said.

“The erosion north of the Richards Bay harbour breakwater is clearly as a result of the blocking of the littoral drift, arising from the construction of the harbour itself.

“It is thus one of the many environmental impacts of building the harbour.

“That this was foreseen in the then environmental impact assessment is clear, as evidenced by the construction of the dredger berth and replenishment pipeline, as well as the setting up of the erstwhile dredging and pumping programme as a mitigating measure.

“In simple words, in not dredging and replenishing, the port is not meeting its environmental obligations.

“Why is the city not taking this up with the Department of Environmental Affairs?” Potential solutions are few, and they would cost many millions of rands, such as building a breakwater either at right angles north of Alkantstrand, or even parallel to the coast.

Until then, locals can expect to see the rest of the coast going the same way as the now obliterated beaches at Kleiklipklofie, Soetwater, 2-Mile, 5-Mile and 9-Mile, all of which once provided ramp access to the sea in the days before 4X4 beach driving was banned.