Beach Erosion Esperance Western Australia

This paper explains the manner in which major harbour developments at Esperance have significantly changed the natural pattern of littoral sand movements within Esperance Bay. The harbour breakwater and shipping channel have acted as a trap for littoral material, thereby causing a nett loss of sand from the adjacent town beaches and worsening an existing beach erosion1problem. Rehabilitation works to control the beach erosion have included groyne construction and sand nourishment. Monitoring of shoreline movements has revealed that these rehabilitation measures have largely stabilised the affected beaches and have shown that ongoing sand nourishment is a cost effective means of controlling future erosion. The detailed information accumulated over ten years has contributed to an improved understanding of the complex beach processes involved.