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Urgent dredging works to repair a breakthrough on Bribie Island prised open by Cyclone Alfred has been completed following a months-long operation.
The Queensland government confirmed the first stage of $20 million erosion mitigation works was a success, after locals described damage to the island caused by the February disaster as having torn it open “like a zipper”.
The first breakthrough on Bribie Island (top) was caused by Cyclone Seth in 2022. Cyclone Alfred caused a second, smaller breakthrough (bottom) in March this year.Credit: Bluey’s Photography
Bribie Island, at the north edge of Moreton Bay, was first split in 2022 amid rough surf brought on by Cyclone Seth.
Water broke through in two more places this year, when Alfred hovered off the south-east for days.
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A $20 million urgent works project was announced following the disaster to address erosion in the area. Those works pumped more than 250,000 cubic metres of sand in to fill the breakthroughs.
The first phase, closing the Alfred breakthrough, was finished this week.
Focus will now turn to preventing a third breakthrough from worsening, and will then move on to the original Seth breakthrough.
“Emergency works will continue through to April of next year and we’ll also see some revegetation of the island,” LNP member for Caloundra Kendall Morton said.
“It is a super exciting milestone. It is part of ongoing works that will be monitored but also know that the report and final recommendations are being considered by the government and that report will be released before the end of the year.”
Sandbags outside the Caloundra Power Boat Club, where Golden Beach was eroded Cyclone Alfred.Credit: Catherine Strohfeldt
Coast Guard commander Roger Pearce was emotional when he noted the number of houses that were now safer as a result of the operation.
“It’s just absolutely amazing,” he said.
The breakthrough affected Coast Guard operations, and the recent dredging gave them more power to quickly get out to sea in an emergency, Pearce said.
He said works on the channel might be done before storm season was fully under way.
“Water temperature’s about 24 degrees now – it needs to be 27 [degrees] to support a cyclone,” he said. “But all these people now can rest easy. If we do get a cyclone early, they’re safe.”
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The northern tip of Bribie Island has traditionally shielded Caloundra from storms and bad weather.
For decades, locals warned that erosion would remove the natural protection for properties in Golden Beach and surrounding areas built close to the waterline.
Jen Kettleton-Butler, whose family has been associated with Caloundra for more than a century, earlier this year said the recent wash-overs and breakthroughs on the island’s northern tip had opened up the island “like a zipper”, leaving Caloundra exposed “like a newborn baby”.
Earlier this year, Sunshine Coast Council also announced plans for a 208-metre-long sea wall in front of Golden Beach, with the state and federal governments pitching in to fund the project.
The wall was expected to extend from Nelson Street in Caloundra to the TS Onslow Naval Cadets site, sheltering waterfront suburbia directly opposite the 2022 breach. Work was expected to be completed by early December.
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