Narrow Neck is the name of an

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

that separates the

anabranch An anabranch is a section of a river or stream that diverts from the main channel or stem of the watercourse and rejoins the main stem downstream. Local anabranches can be the result of small islands in the watercourse. In larger anabranches, ...

of the

Nerang River The Nerang River is a perennial river in South East Queensland, Australia. Its drainage basin, catchment lies within the City of Gold Coast, Gold Coast Local government in Queensland, local government area and covers an area of . The river is app ...

from the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

in the

City of Gold Coast The City of Gold Coast is the Local government in Australia, local government area spanning the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774, it is the second most populous local ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It is also the boundary between the southern end of the suburb of Main Beach and the northern end of the suburb of

Surfers Paradise Surfing is a list of surface water sports, surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in Glossary of surfing, tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wind wave, wave of water, whic ...

Seawalls

The highway connecting

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

was constructed at Narrow Neck in 1920 and by 1921 it became necessary to build the Gold Coast's first

seawall A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation, ...

out of timber. A series of seawalls were constructed at Narrow Neck over the years including materials like car bodies, old trucks and buses filled with concrete, dumped concrete from old buildings, rocks and boulders. After an evaluation of seawalls along the Gold Coast by Griffith Centre for Coastal Management based at Griffith University on the Gold Coast, the timber wall was upgraded in 2016 by City of Gold Coast using the standard rock seawall design for the Gold Coast. Much of the timber removed was still in good condition.

Narrow Neck Artificial Reef

In 1971 the Dutch University Delft completed a report for the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

recommending the construction of a

groyne A groyne (in the U.S. groin) is a rigid aquatic structure built perpendicularly from an ocean shore (in coastal engineering) or a river bank, interrupting water flow and limiting the movement of sediment. It is usually made out of wood, concrete ...

at Narrow Neck. The

Gold Coast City Council The City of Gold Coast is the Local government in Australia, local government area spanning the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774, it is the second most populous local ...

examined the idea of a groyne and instead constructed an

artificial reef An artificial reef (AR) is a human-created freshwater or marine benthic structure. Typically built in areas with a generally featureless bottom to promote Marine biology#Reefs, marine life, it may be intended to control #Erosion prevention, erosio ...

to stabilise the foreshore at Narrow Neck. So far the reef has worked well as a coastal control point, but has been disappointing in its secondary objective to improve

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

. A surprising benefit of the Narrow Neck Reef has been its ability to attract marine growth and reef fish and is now a popular

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

location. Narrow Neck is particularly popular for

kite surfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, snow, sand, or other surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snow ...

and

longboarding Longboarding is a variation of skateboarding typified by the use of longer boards ("decks") with longer wheelbases and softer wheels. While longboards vary widely in shape and size, compared to street skateboards longboards are designed to be mo ...

. The 350 × 600 m V-shaped artificial reef is located 200 m offshore and deflects the waves to the left and to the right of its tip. It was built from more than 400 "mega sand containers" placed between 1 and 10 m below the mean sea level. Each container was about 20 m long and 3.0–4.8 m in diameter; it was filled with up to 250 m³ of sand and weighed up to 500 tonnes. Its walls were made of needle-punched nonwoven

geotextile Geotextiles are versatile permeable fabrics that, when used in conjunction with soil, can effectively perform multiple functions, including separation, filtration, reinforcement, protection, and drainage. Typically crafted from polypropylene or ...

, which offered much higher damage resistance compared to conventional materials. The containers were filled on the shore and installed at a rate of up to 10 per day with a GPS-positioned ship. In June 2018, renewal works were completed in which 84 additional mega sand containers were place on top of the reef from a split hull barge.

References

{{reflist Geography of Gold Coast, Queensland Main Beach, Queensland Surfers Paradise, Queensland

Seawalls

Narrow Neck Artificial Reef

See also

References