Case Study- Adelaide Metropolitan Beaches:
Human and physical factors affecting coastal landscapes
Location =
City in S Australia, Indian Ocean and Great Australian Bight to the South.
Unintentional changes =
Littoral drift north and sand removed for development (airport and houses).
Suburbs built on dunes/coastal back swamps.
Storm water discharged to coast.
Effects =
Sand removal leads to dune erosion.
Sand mining leads to groundwater pollution.
Dredging damages ecosystems.
Noise pollution.
Current Management =
1. Beach replenishment → 160,000m3
/year maintains sandy foreshore and develops
dune buffers
Successful increase in beach width at Brighton and Henley
2. Recycling sand via slurry pumping + pipelines → Sand Transfer Infrastructure Project
Transfers build-up of sand at Glenelg to actively eroding southern beaches. Sand pumping
annually in Autumn at West Beach until 2033
3. Coarse sand from external sources → increases dune stability
4. Coastal structures in critical locations → slow northerly drift
Groynes, breakwater and sea wall for property areas at West Beach
‘’Adelaide’s Living Beaches’’ to reduce cost by 20%.
