An area off the Sunshine Coast is no longer being considered as a potential site for placing dredged sediment from a large-scale Port of Brisbane project.
The Northern Deepwater zone, about 10km east of Caloundra was a site of interest for the proposed Channel Enhancement Project.
The multibillion-dollar CEP could include dredging about 96.5 million cubic metres of material to widen, deepen, and realign sections of the existing shipping channel between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, plus the “beneficial reuse and disposal of dredged material”.
The Northern Deepwater zone was among a handful of proposed Dredge Material Placement Areas, which would accommodate dredged sediment like sand and mud, shifted by a dredge vessel.
But a project update stated that the site was no longer being considered.
“The proposed DMPA options shown in the Initial Advice Statement, at Northern Deepwater (offshore from Caloundra) and Juno Point (proposed reclamation on the northern bank of the Brisbane River) have now been ruled out and will not be progressed further as part of the EIS (Environmental Impact Study) process.”
A PoB spokesperson told Sunshine Coast News this month that there was a preferred location, and reiterated that dredged material would not end up off the Sunshine Coast.
“Four DMPAs were identified for initial assessment. Only two remain under active consideration: Fisherman Islands Future Port Expansion 2 (FPE2) and Old Channel.
“The Port of Brisbane has made regulators aware its singular preference is for an FPE2, as that involves the construction of an enclosed rock wall, which is the most environmentally sensitive way to handle dredged sediments, as we do currently in the existing Future Port Expansion area).
“Therefore, there are no material placement sites near the Sunshine Coast under consideration.”
But dredging could occur off the Sunshine Coast, where the end of the shipping lane could be made deeper and wider.
A drilling barge has been off the coast of Caloundra, doing marine geotechnical investigations in the North-West Channel as part of the proposed CEP.
The investigations are also being undertaken at multiple sites between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane from June until September.
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The PoB spokesperson said the CEP could make a significant difference to the state.
“The CEP is a proposed 25-year infrastructure program of works, aimed at preparing the port for future trade and population growth in South-East Queensland,” the spokesperson said.
“The CEP is being designed to ensure the primary shipping channel remains safe, efficient and capable of supporting larger, modern vessels into the future.”
