Transnet National Port Authority’s (TNPA’s) dredging services division has been hard at work to prepare the beaches along Durban’s Golden Mile for holidaymakers this festive season.
TNPA uses two trailing suction hopper dredgers to dredge sand from the sand trap on the southern side of the Golden Mile’s entrance channel and reclaims the sand onto the northern beaches.
Port of Durban infrastructure department civil technologist Clive Greyling says about 600 000 m3 of sand naturally migrates up the South Coast each year and gets trapped behind the South Pier in an area called a sand trap.
“With the sand being trapped on the southern side of the South Pier, the beaches to the north of the entrance channel are slowly depleted of sand. Transnet and TNPA Durban have a corporate social responsibility to collect the sand that has been trapped to put it on the beaches on the northern side of the channel.”
Greyling adds that the dredging of the sand trap is of paramount importance to the port, keeping the entrance channel and basin open at the correct depth and width, as well as the berths which serve as parking bays for ships inside the port.
In collaboration with eThekwini’s coastal engineering, stormwater and catchment management department, the port authority plays a crucial role in ensuring beaches are ready for tourists to enjoy, stimulating the economy and boosting Durban as a city.