Collaroy Beach: Work underway to halt sea wall toppling on to sand

The sandstone wall at the southern end of Collaroy Beach was in danger of collapse so the council had to stabilise it with giant 4-tonne bags of rocks.

Northern Beaches Council has been undertaking stabilisation work on the sandstone sea wall at the southern end of Collaroy Beach. Picture: Manly Daily

Work is under way to prevent the potential collapse of a sea wall on to a popular Sydney beach.

Giant four-tone bags of smashed up rock are being buried in the sand to stop a section of the sandstone wall toppling on to Collaroy Beach.

Northern Beaches Council is installing the rock bag revetment, or barrier, in front of a 35m section of the wall at the southern end of the beach in a stretch between the surf life saving club and the rock pool.

Northern Beaches Council has been placing huge steel mesh bags filled with four tonnes of rock on the seaward side of the sea wall at the southern end of Collaroy Beach. Picture: Manly Daily

The council said the barrier, made up layers of the rock bags, was designed to deflect wave energy and to provide support to the front of the wall “to prevent further movement and potential collapse of a section of the seawall”.

Each of the steel mesh bags full of rocks is beng lifted into place by a mobile crane. The bags are then covered over by sand by an excavator.

The stabilisation work comes as work ramps up on protecting oceanfront properties at the northern end of Collaroy Beach and the southern end of Narrabeen Beach from devastating storms.

Northern Beaches Council has been undertaking stabilisation work on the sandstone sea wall at the southern end of Collaroy Beach. Picture: Manly Daily

Residents and the council have been calling for better coastal protection following the devastating storms of 2016. Homes along the beachfront were battered by the storms with waves up to eight metres in height.

A number of private property owners along a stretch of Pittwater Rd at Collaroy, from around Ramsay to Clark streets, lodged development applications with the council so they could protect their properties from giant swell and storm surges during East Coast lows.

The council said there were 49 parcels of land requiring coastal protection.

Emergency crews working on the houses on Collaroy Beach that were partially destroyed during the 2016 East Coast low. Picture: Tim Hunter.

The council has already built a 250m seawall to protect Collaroy carpark, the largest of 11 public assets at Collaroy requiring protection. The others include South Narrabeen Surf Club, a number of roads ending at the beach and council reserves.

On its website the council’s chief executive Ray Brownlee said it had been working with residents and had offered a financial contribution. Residents can apply for a subsidy — made up of council and NSW Government funding— of 20pc of the cost of the protection.