Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4 Western Australia, Series 4
Volume 20
Number 1 1979 Article 13
1-1-1979
Sand dune project stabilises erosion Sand dune project stabilises erosion
Department of Agriculture, Western Australia
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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation
Department of Agriculture, Western Australia (1979) "Sand dune project stabilises erosion," Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4: Vol. 20: No. 1, Article 13.
Available at: https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture4/vol20/iss1/13
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Sand dune project stabilises erosion
™ _ _ — ~ - — ~ ™ _ ™ — ~ ™ ~ ™ _ ™ ™ ™ — ™ - _ ™ _ B U « H M M H H g H M n H M |
The dunes before reshaping
Laying pine brush and planting marram grass over the bulldozed area
Completed project with new road and car park
Warnbro Beach Road, near Rockingham, used to be a poor road, narrow and winding, with some steep sections. It was too close to the beach, so that sand drifts often made it hazardous, sometimes completely blocking it.
Rockingham Shire redesigned and rebuilt Warnbro Beach Road, making it safer and better to drive on. However, during planning it was realised that the job would involve reshaping the dune system between the road and the beach, leaving it bare and vulnerable to wind erosion.
Assistance was sought from the Soil Conservation Service of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Conservation and Environment. It was decided that the project should be considered an experiment, because the area was large and because wind damage might destroy the whole planting.
It was agreed that:
• Marram grass and native dune plants should provide the
permanent vegetation cover needed to protect the soil.
• Pine brush and cereal rye should provide temporary protection while the permanent vegetation became established.
• Parking bays should be located to concentrate people at specific points.
• Simple pine rail fences should be used to define paths to the beach and to protect the planted area by reducing indiscriminate trampling.
The initial revegetation of the bare, re-shaped dunes was done by the Soil Conservation Service and the Department of Conservation and Environment. Rockingham Shire built the car parks and the protective fencing.
Earth moving was timed to finish as the early winter rains started, enabling marram grass to be planted immediately. Pine brush was laid over the marram grass after planting.
The Department of Agriculture will monitor the project and repair damage to the planted area for three years, after which it will become a normal shire responsibility.
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Journal of Agriculture Vol 20 No 1 1979
