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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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Program Overview |
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Why Dredge?
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Lakes Entrance is home to Victoria's largest commercial fishing fleet, and it is a popular recreational fishing, boating and tourism destination.
The lakes system is an interconnected chain of five rivers and four lakes covering around four hundred square kilometres.
The only access to the ocean is at Lakes Entrance, a man-made opening built in 1889 to connect the lakes with Bass Strait.
Ever since its construction, an influx of sand has flowed through the entrance and into the inner channels and formed the bar outside the entrance. Dredging has taken place for the past 30 years.
Keeping the entrance open is vital to the future of the local tourism and fishing industries, as well as the character and lifestyle at Lakes Entrance.
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Past approach
The dredge April Hamer worked on the bar outside the entrance to maintain the ocean access channel.
Sand was dredged from the inner channels by a smaller dredge, the Sandpiper, and deposited at various locations around the channels. This practice resulted in the formation of large stockpiles, which can no longer occur.
In 2001, a sand transfer system was constructed to enable sand to be pumped to a discharge point about one kilometre east of the entrance back into the ocean.
This approach has struggled to keep up with the build-up of sand. In fact, there has been a continual accumulation of sand on the bar and inside the entrance.
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Lakes Entrance Sand Management Program
In November 2005, the Victorian State Government announced funding for the $31.5 million Lakes Entrance Sand Management Program.
Gippsland Ports manages the program. It is also responsible for managing the regional ports in Eastern Victoria.
The program will improve sand management by:
- replacing outdated equipment
- testing new approaches to manage the ongoing build up of sand at the entrance and inner channels
- gaining a greater understanding of the unique coastal environment at Lakes Entrance.
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