Accompanied by Waihi Beach councillor Ross Goudie, the Mayor met with project team members from coastal engineering firm Tonkin & Taylor and construction representatives from Higgins Contractors Ltd and MacCaferri New Zealand Ltd to view the final work.

Ross said the groyne wall blended in well with the beachfront environment.

He hoped Waihi Beach residents would soon see the tangible effects of the wall on restoring the foreshore dunes as a result of re-training the creek flow into the sea.

“Council looked at many options, including diverting Three Mile Creek in to the harbour – but that would have been far too costly for ratepayers. So this is a balance between cost and efficiency and I congratulate everyone on a great job,” said Ross.

The groynes will train the flow of Three Mile Creek seaward to ensure an uninterrupted stormwater flow through the frontal dunes. The groynes will also form a high tide beach to give erosion protection in addition to the proposed rock revetment that will be built next year along the exposed shoreline of Waihi Beach.

Each side of Three Mile Creek mouth is now protected against erosion by two groyne walls of geotextile containers, each container filled with five tonne of sand. The southern wall is 50 metres in length and the northern slightly shorter.

The $300,000 project is the first stage of the Waihi Beach coastal protection works planned by Council and designed by the coastal engineering specialists Tonkin & Taylor.

MacCaferri New Zealand Ltd – the company that supplied the geotextile containers – has completed similar projects in the Pacific and Asia but managing director Chris Brockliss said it is the first time the ElcroRock geo-composite containers of this size, weight and configuration have been used in New Zealand.

The rock revetment along part of the Waihi Beach coastline will be the next stage of erosion control.

The construction project has been tendered and the successful tenderer will be announced in February.

The rock revetment will extend approximately 1000 metres along the coastline and will protect about 80 private properties from ongoing erosion and loss of land.

         
Mayor Ross Paterson and councillor Ross Goudie visit the newly completed groyne training wall at Three Mile Creek