St Heliers beach upgrade

St Heliers beach seawall protection project | Foreshore upgrade project

St Heliers beach seawall protection project

Overview
Consultation results
What did the work involve?

Overview

Auckland City Council embarked on a project that saw the sand return to St Heliers Beach. The once sandy strip of beach had been mostly depleted over the past few decades, exposing the seawall protecting Tamaki Drive. The seawall had suffered substantial structural failure, and was at risk from total failure during a major storm event.

The project included a 600m strip of sand 10m to 30m in width at high tide. New headland structures were constructed on the western and eastern ends of the beach to contain the sand and divert stormwater away from the beach. Like the Kohimarama Beach exercise, thousands of tonnes of sand were required to return this Auckland city icon back to its pristine best.

Council had an approved budget of $4.24m for the resanding of St Heliers beach. The budget allowed for headlands to contain the imported sand, storm water diversions and of course the importation of sand from the outer Hauraki Gulf.

St Heliers Beach

Consultation results

The St Heliers Beach seawall protection project open days, held in late August 2005, were well attended and 182 submissions were received.

The results showed an overwhelming majority of respondents supporting the beach being resanded (as per Kohimarama Beach) in order to preserve Tamaki Drive long-term.

Out of the three options for the coastal structure at the east end of the beach - a naturalistic headland, an island or a pier - the naturalistic headland option was confirmed as the preferred way forward, similar to Kohimarama (Kohi) Beach.

Resource consent was granted by Auckland Regional Council and works commenced in May 2006 and were completed in December 2006.

What did the work involve?

Sand supply and placement operation

The sand importing operation started at the centre of the beach and moved towards the western end of the beach. The second stage placed sand from the centre of the beach and moved it towards the eastern end. The target programme is the western half of the beach.

The beach was fenced off by the contractor in sections for the public's safety. The boat ramps were closed during construction works and alternative boat ramps in the area were available including Kohimarama and the Landing at Okahu Bay. Throughout the project, half of the beach was unrestricted for public access.

A barge pontoon for the sand delivery was moored 500m off the beach and a submerged steel pipe was placed up to the low water mark. This temporary navigational hazard was made visible with marker buoys which were lit at night. Signs were installed giving the pipe's location on the beach.

Construction of the headlands

The playground at the end of St Heliers beach was temporarily closed from May 2006 to late December 2006, while the beach resanding project was underway. A metalled track was run through the playground area for access to the beach during construction of headlands to contain the new sand. The playground has been fully reinstated.

A stormwater culvert at the eastern end of the beach was installed during July and August 2006 as part of The Parade stormwater upgrade works. A 30m long headland was then constructed to incorporate the outfall and retain the new beach.