Breakers batter Richards Bay beach geobag barricade
A number of the 2.8-tonne sand-filled bags have slipped from their positions, and fear is that a domino-like effect will see many others falling as sand between the bags is eroded
LAID in 2015 to protect the coastline from the front of the Alkantstrand lifeguard house northwards, the geobag retaining wall has itself come under severe ocean attack during recent storm surges.
A number of the 2.8-tonne sand-filled bags have slipped from their positions, and fear is that a domino-like effect will see many others falling as sand between the bags is eroded.
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In the almost six years since they were laid, the geobags have done a tremendous job of fortifying the immediate coastline, which has been receding at a steady rate owing to global warming, rising oceans, and more frequent and more intense wind and wave action.
Added to this has been the limited amount of dredge spoil that has been pumped back over the years – far below the amount which Transnet is contracted to supply to the city’s main beach.
There is no simple solution to the mass disintegration and narrowing of the dune defence that protects the coastline: it is nature’s force versus man’s futile attempts to defy its inevitable collapse.
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