Posted on August 21, 2017
By Stuart Cumming, Sunshine CoastDaily
MORE than one million cubic metres of sand will be pumped from barges to create the base for Sunshine Coast Airport’s new runway.
Sunshine Coast Airport expansion project director Ross Ullman said Sunshine Coast Council had gained two of the five State Government approvals it needed to undertake the works.
Mr Ullman said an underground pipe about 100m long would run at a depth of about 1.5m from the far northern end of the runway, under David Low Way and run just north of a beach access point out to the shore.
If approved, 1.1 million cubic metres of sand will be dredged from the Spitfire Channel between the northern end of Moreton Island and the southern end of Bribie Island.
Mr Ullman said dredging would be beneficial at that end because it would eliminate a dog leg which ships using the passage had to navigate.
The sand will be then carried on barges to Marcoola before being connected directly to the pipeline and pumped onto the airport site.
“It will form the embankment on which the pavement and asphalt surface will be placed,” Mr Ullman said.
He said the council had received quarry allocation and marine parks permits for the works but still had to acquire title works, development application and permit to disturb marine plants approval.
The works are not allowed to take place during turtle breeding season between November and February.
Mr Ullman said the project would not be ready to proceed before November so expected it would start after February next year.
Source: Sunshine CoastDaily
