Tropical Cyclone Alfred was a significant weather event in early 2025 that damaged infrastructure and the environment with destructive winds, extreme rainfall and flash flooding across South East Queensland and North East NSW. Residents and businesses across South East Queensland experienced damage to properties as well sustained electrical power loss.  Tropical Cyclone Alfred also eroded millions of cubic metres of sand from the beaches and dune systems from South East Queensland to North East NSW. This was caused by the wave height from combined seas and swells and abnormally high tides due to the lower air pressure.

Over time, natural coastal processes; including tides, waves and wind; will redistribute the sand on the upper beach, reforming a wide beach and dunes. However, these natural processes can take months and years to occur.  The City of Gold Coast is a world leader in coastal management. As the cyclone occurred, the City of Gold Coast triggered an Active Recovery Plan. The plan consisted of resuming sand nourishment operations to accelerate the natural recovery of the beach and mitigate beach erosion risks associated with any following storms. To make this happen, the City of Gold Coast leveraged Water Technology’s national Coasts and Marine team to support the recovery efforts including:

• Justify, develop and deliver the beach nourishment design
• Prepare and negotiate a dredging and nearshore nourishment contract and engage the contractor
• Gather and modify necessary environmental permits and approval with the relevant authorities
• Provide superintendency representation services for the works

The Rohde Nielsen trailer suction hopper dredge (Trud R) vessel was opportunistically nearby and could be deployed to the site. The vessel has been working 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, since the 4th April 2025, less than a month after the cyclone, which is unprecedented.

Nearshore nourishment techniques have been adopted for the works. This consists of dredging sand in deepwater and placing the sand in the surf zone, where coastal processes can naturally widen the beach and reform dunes. A combination of rainbowing (sucking up the sand and shooting it in an arc through the air towards the beach) and bottom dumping placement is used to place the sand back on the active foreshore.

By the end of April 2025, already 120,000 cubic metres of sand has been deposited along the Surfers Paradise Hardstand, one of most vulnerable areas of the coast. The nearshore beach nourishment is expected to continue for several months, extending the benefits to other area and supporting long-term the Gold Coast coastal management actions.

Our team look forward to continuing our partnership with the City of Gold Coast for the beach recovery, monitoring and management efforts both in the short and the long term.