St Francis Bay Beach Project: Progress Report #2

Initial Visit Report from ASR

Dr Shaw Mead has recently submitted his initial visit report to the SFB Beach Trust following his trip to St Francis Bay during February, 2006. The bottom line is that ASR believe that the submerged reef option is a feasible and cost effective way to manage the SFB Beach. As the data collection phase progresses more detailed information will become available in order to confirm these views.

Formal Registration of Beach Trust
The documents for the formal registration are now in Grahamstown awaiting formal registration of the SFB Beach Trust. We are also pleased to announce the appointment of Antony Ball, Pat Kelly and Emlyn Horne as the first Trustees of the SFB Beach Trust.

Data Collection Update
Dylan Anderson has recently visited St Francis from 8 to 14 March, 2006, in order to download the first data set of 4 weeks from the Aquadopp Profiler. The instrument is collecting the inshore wave and current data required for modelling purposes. This data has already been sent on to Shaw Mead of ASR Limited in New Zealand.

On the recommendation of ASR, the SFB Beach Trust purchased a specialised Petite Ponar grab from the United States. Dylan Anderson and the team of Mark May and Ryan Donnelly have now completed a full sand sampling exercise in the Bay, as well as taking samples from both the beach and Kromme River Estuary

The samples are currently being analysed by UCT in Cape Town in order to obtain a detailed picture of the of the composition of of the sea bed. Phase 1 data collection should be completed by the first week in May, 2006. The Draft Report from ASR recommendations will then be available to the Beach Trust during May 2006.

Presentation of Formal ASR Investigative Report – Phase 1

The formal ASR Report will be available to the SFB Beach Trust during June, 2006. Once this has been completed we will be holding a public meeting in St Francis. At this meeting Dr Shaw Mead will be providing a detailed PowerPoint presentation on the ASR recommendations.

Design and Construction Costing – Phase 2

The second phase of the project will commence in July, 2006. This is the design phase, including the precise sizes and locations of the submerged reef structures. A detailed cost estimate of the construction phase, as well as a suggested phased timing for budget purposes will be part of the overall design.

Phase 2 (design) of the project will be completed during the six months July to December, 2006. Over this period, Dylan Anderson will be in New Zealand to assist the ASR .

On completion of the design, Dr Shaw Mead will be making a presentation at a further Public Meeting to be held in St Francis over the Christmas holidays, in order to provide detailed information to the wider SFB community.

Alan Tonkin: SFB Beach Trust
14 March, 2006.