Northern Gold Coast Beach Protection Strategy


The Northern Gold Coast Beach Protecton Strategy (NGCBPS) is an integrated coastal management plan developed by International Coastal Management for Gold Coast City Council to protect and enhance northern Gold Coast beaches.  Key components of the scheme include:

  • sand nourishment of northern Gold Coast beaches

  • dredging of the Broadwater waterway

  • construction of the Gold Coast Reef

Construction of the reef commenced in August, 1999, and the major phase of reef construction was completed in December 2000.  Additional works to raise the crest of the strucutre and to 'trim' the shape of the reef were completed in November-December 2001 and again in December 2002.

Between 1999 and 2008, the Water Research Laboratory (WRL) assisted Gold Coast City Council with the ongoing monitoring of the northern Gold Coast Beaches. The monitoring was undertaken to meet the requirements of the Northern Gold Coast Beach Protection Strategy (NGCBPS Environmental Management Plan (EMP).

Digital images of the coastline were captured every daylight hour by WRL from four cameras mounted on the roof of an apartment building, approximately 100 m above sea level (site map).  These images were then analysed at WRL, to measure changes to the northern Gold Coast coastline. The results of this monitoring were detailed in six-monthly paper reports and in real-time via the world-wide-web.

The monitoring images, animations, beach width records and data reports summarising morphological trends, reef-wave breaking and shoreline trends in the lee of the reef between 1999 and 2008 are available on this website can be provided to interested parties upon request.

For further information about the NGCBPS and ongoing monitoring please contact Gold Coast City Council directly.