Posted on March 12, 2025
In short:
Six million cubic metres of sand have been eroded from Gold Coast beaches by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The city’s council wants the beaches restored by Easter to ensure tourism is not impacted.
What’s next?
“Rainbow” dredging operations will get underway within a week in a bid to return the beaches to normal.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred has washed 2,000 Olympic swimming pools worth of sand off the Gold Coast’s beaches and authorities are racing to revive the world-famous coastline.
The city’s council has set itself a deadline to have its beaches returned to their regular condition by Easter.
“Eighty per cent of our beach is gone into the ocean,” Gold Coast City Mayor Tom Tate said.
“Our priority is fixing the beaches [which aren’t as busy] … first so we can get a number of kilometres back online for locals.”
Large equipment is already being used on the edge of sand cliffs to provide access to beaches, and dredging will begin within a week.
Coastal erosion has stripped sand from popular Surfers Paradise beach.
Despite some sand cliffs measuring 6 metres in height, Cr Tate said the city endured worse erosion in 2013 when ex-Tropical Cyclone Oswald hit the glitter strip.
“This time next week, I’d like to show that Surfers Paradise is really open for business and that way people can start booking flights,” he said.
“Rainbow” style dredging will be undertaken to replenish the Gold Coast’s beaches.
The Gold Coast will use rainbow-style dredging, where sand is pumped from an outer bank towards the shore.
A barge will pump sand dragged half a kilometre offshore and shoot it in an arc through the air, back towards the beach, Cr Tate said.
A coastal erosion expert said the council would also use other methods to restore the “6 million cubic metres of sand, that’s equivalent to 2,000 Olympic swimming pools” swept from the city’s beaches.
“They’ll batter down sand dunes and put more of that sand onto the beach. That also helps with dune recovery,” chief executive engineer at International Coastal Management Angus Jackson said.
“They may put a bulldozer in at critical places like Surfers Paradise.”
This lifeguard tower fell into the ocean as a result of beach erosion on the Gold Coast.
At Surfers Paradise on Tuesday, locals and tourists alike were in awe of how the beach looked.
“I can’t believe how much sand has been taken away,” English tourist Steve Farmer said.
“It’s crazy, the beach is just gone. I don’t know how long it’s going to take or how long it’s going to cost,” resident Nick Rushby said.
“I’m in awe. I’m in construction, and to see how much earth has been moved, it’s insane the power that would’ve been involved.”
Adapting to climate change
Mr Jackson said he was confident the Gold Coast, a “world leader” in beach resilience, would meet its target of returning the beaches to normal in five weeks.
“No problem, as long as we don’t have another cyclone,” Mr Jackson said.
Work has already begun at Currumbin to try to restore the eroded beach.
Meanwhile, Cr Tate said the city was prepared for climate change and increasingly intense storms.
He said the city had prioritised spending on waterways, protecting sand dunes, and updating prevention walls in the city’s canals.
Coastal erosion expert Angus Jackson says the Gold Coast is a global leader in beach resilience.
Cr Tate said the council was working closely with other agencies to act on its own report on climate change and how the city would manage.
“The costs will grow but one thing about our city, we have lived within our means,” he said.
