Main Beach Shoreline Project

The below infographic provides an outline of the Main Beach coastal protection works.

Where the sea and land meet is a coastal protection structure also known as the Jonson Street Protections Works or JSPW. This runs along the foreshore between the Main Beach Surf Lifesaving Club and the First Sun Holiday Park, and is next to Apex Park, playgrounds, the Memorial Pool and the beach car park. 

The coastal protection structure comprises a main groyne (located next to the car park) and two smaller groynes to the north (near First Sun Holiday Park) and south (near Apex Park). The majority of the structure is made of rock of various sizes. 

Removal of the groynes is expected to increase sand bypassing with gaining of sand (accretion) to the west of the structure and loss of sand (erosion) to the east of the structure. 

Realignment of the structure landward would be expected to see a readjustment of the shoreline with an increase in sand movement from east to west. 

With the shift of the structure off the beach, sand bypassing around the structure would see gaining of sand to the west of the structure and loss of sand to the east of the structure. As such, a considerable landward shift to the eastern shoreline position would be expected.

Surfing has long been part of the fabric of Byron Bay. Council understand the value this activity brings to locals and visitors alike and will consider surfing amenity as one of the key investigations under the Main Beach Shoreline Project.

For each modification option, the impacts on surfing amenity at popular and nearby surf spots, including Main Beach and The Wreck, will be considered. Through the multiple lines of evidence approach, a combination of physical data collection (wave and current measurements), local surfing knowledge, coastal modelling of waves and currents, and geomorphological assessment will be utilised to improve the understanding of local wave and hydrodynamic processes.

Through assessment of data and information, specific conditions will be better understood. For example, bar morphology and metocean conditions required for good or bad surfing conditions. This will be essential to not only infer the interaction between the current (e.g. mini-rips cells) and proposed structures with the nearshore wave and hydrodynamic processes but will also provide an understanding of long-term wave statistics and a variety of characteristic conditions.

This understanding will ensure that the proposed concept options can be optimised to minimise any potential negative impacts to amenity (e.g. beach width, surfing quality) at an early stage of this project. For more detail on the exact collection of data and coastal modelling, please refer to the consultant’s scope of work(PDF, 5MB) .

The Main Beach Shoreline Project investigation is considered within the processes involved in preparation of the CMP and is part of the overall CMP preparation. The project is a Stage 2 study within CMP preparation.

The outcomes of the investigation will be fully synchronised and incorporated within the overall CMP preparation, hence the evaluation and selection of the preferred modification design will be completed in Stage 3 of the CMP development. This provides a holistic and embayment wide approach to coastal management.