Sediment Movement in Port Hedland Harbour

Pre-construction design assumptions of maintenance dredging rates in the Inner Harbour and Approach Channel at Port Hedland are compared with measurements taken since construction dredging ceased in 1970. Soundings, probings, current metering, sampling of suspended and bottom sediments, float tracking and aerial photographs, have all provided a better understanding of the distribution, movement, and sources of sediment in dredged portions of the Harbour. This should help planning for future development and maintenance. Tentative relationships have been established for predicting the sediment deposition rate and particle size at locations in the Inner Harbour, using tidal currents measured on a rigid bed tidal model. It has been concluded that cyclones do not significantly affect the spoil bank or Approach Channel stability, and overall maintenance dredging at Port Hedland is not excessive.