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Lakes Entrance Sand Management, Environment Protection, Sand Dredging, Tide Information, Dredging Pump Sand, Coastal Environment & Coastal Protection, Gippsland
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Monitoring |
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Monitoring the results of each project is crucial in determining the success of the program and providing the basis for future recommendations.
The monitoring equipment installed will allow Gippsland Ports to accurately evaluate all aspects of the program. Monitoring consists of :-
Bathymetric surveys; Surveys of the sea floor are being conducted regularly in the areas of the bar, the entrance channel, the inner channels and the coastline for a distance of approximately 3Km either side of the entrance. This will enable calculation on the amount (volume) of sand entering and leaving the system and, to some degree, where the sand moves to.
The data obtained from the surveys provides up-to-date channel depths for the port users in addition to the sand movement.
Rather than rely on contracted surveying companies, Gippsland Ports established its own hydrographical surveying capability.
Terrestrial surveys; along the ocean beaches for the same distance as the bathymetric surveys are being undertaken. These will establish if the beaches are eroding or accreting as a result of the trials.
Weather; The installation of an Automatic Weather Station provides a record of the wind speed and direction, rainfall, temperature, humidity and barometric pressure. It is necessary to monitor this as the wind and weather is a primary force that creates the waves and causes the sand to move.
Weather observations will be used to provide insight into ocean observations and thus by use of forecasts enable proactive rather than reactive sand management.
Wave, tide and current; The installation of an offshore Directional Wave Rider Buoy which is located approximately 2.3km due south of the Entrance measures the height, frequency and direction of waves.
This information is essential in determining how the waves of differing magnitude and direction affect the bar, the inner channels and the accretion rates within each area of the system.
Wave direction and magnitude play an important role in the littoral drift on the Ninety Mile Beach. Consecutive records of seasonal trends currently do not exist.
Gippsland Ports has also installed an offshore Current Meter adjacent to the Wave Ride Buoy which measures the offshore current at that location.
An additional horizontal current meter has been installed within the entrance channel approximately 150 metres inside the ocean walls.
This meter measures the tide and current near the point of fastest flow. This is important to record in terms of sand transportation which is initiated by water current speed. It also provides useful information for port users for the appropriate time to navigate the entrance.
Visual monitoring of the bar and entrance channel is being provided by the installation of cameras at several locations.
Aerial Photography is being undertaken at regular intervals. This is important as the photos provide a record of a larger area that can be monitored by the other methods described above. Changes in beach size is well recorded in aerial photos. The photos are 'georectified' and can be placed directly over existing charts to make comparisons and identify changes over time.
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