Happy New Year! Back in the office after a good break, with a whole lot of reef projects going on this year. At least 3 new reefs will be constructed this year (2 primarily for surfing and another as part of an integrated coastal protection strategy). The following update touches on some of the current projects underway. Surfing Magazine – Brain Gable’s recent article for Surfing Magazine provides a very good summary for the state of play of both surfing reefs and wave pools. Follow this link: surfingthemag.com/news

St Francis Bay, South Africa – Located on the Sunshine Coast between Jeffrey’s Bay and Seal Point, and the site of Bruce’s Beauties (Endless Summer I & II), the applications have now been lodged for this integrated coastal protection strategy. Personally, this project is very close to our hearts as it incorporates the multiple-use aspects that were the original driving force behind the Artificial Reefs Program, i.e. developing holistic solutions to coastal protection that work within the coastal system and provide added benefits rather than loss of amenity. The project incorporates beach renourishment (a sand back-passing system), at least 3 offshore submerged reefs and dune stabilization, and has the added benefit of opening up the Kromme Estuary that has been filling with sand since construction of dams several decades ago. Provided that the application goes through without a hitch, construction of the beach renourishment system and the 1st reef are scheduled to begin in the next 3-4 months. To read more go to: surfermag.com/features

Bounemouth, UK – Detailed design of the Boscombe reef, has now been completed and the tendering process is due to get underway. Construction is scheduled to begin 1st May, with the sand to fill the structure recently being placed on the beach in anticipation. An innovative design has evolved from the large volumes of tests (both physical and numerical modelling) in order to dampen the chop from the prevalent cross-shore winds and keep the face of the 100 m long right-hander as clean as possible.

Mount Reef, NZ – 16 weeks after the last swell on the northeast coast of NZ (early October 2006), the East Coast finally got a swell last week (some of the locals were so wave-starved they were considering counseling!) and another barrel-fest went down on the Mount reef. Some very nice tube sequences can be found at the following link: www.caughtonradar.com

These picts are very useful because they show the contrast with the kind of waves that were breaking at the adjacent beaches at the same time - Tay St Reef barrels compared to Main Beach and Main Beach Shark Alley – the intense breaking waves that the reef was designed to create are in obvious contrast with the softer waves that normally break on this part of the coast. In the previous update we described how the reef was almost complete and provided some links to the various photos and video footage of 4th Oct swell.

During the final filling phase, seam failure on one of the large reef containers meant that this component had to be removed, now leaving a ‘gap’ some 60 m long by 6 m wide through the middle of the right-hander (the replacement is scheduled to be put in shortly). Even so, the reef is still delivering very nice tubing waves, as can be seen. Together with the bi-monthly surveys that have been used to calibrate sediment transport modelling (which will be published in a Scientific Journal later this year), the results of the waves breaking on the reef and the sand bars forming on the beach and around it, a large amount of numerical and physical modelling has been validated and strongly confirms the design processes and research findings that have previously been published. While this may be a little too ‘sciency’ for some readers, we are stoked with these results!

Opunake, NZ – With the arrival of summer, plans are currently being finalised to be back on site and building in February. The reef has 4 sections, and these will completed one at a time. It's definitely a challenging site with respect to the wild West Coast environment and the large distance that sand has to be pumped, although in terms of a site for a surfing reef, it is very well located and once constructed will deliver high-quality waves – the 100 m long right-hander sheltered in Opunake Bay is designed to produce down-the-line barrels.

Los Rosada, Mexico – Another multi-purpose reef project that has just kicked off is on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. At this picturesque location, a safe boat launching area is being designed which will incorporate a surfing break(s) on the outside, as well as focused areas for ecological enhancement

Always Offshore

Dr. Shaw Mead and Dr. Kerry Black

www.asrltd.co.nz