The restoration of the beach at Ramsgate Baths is proving to be not only a civic engineering success but is also generating great interest for spectators.
Many people enjoying a walk along the beachfront pathway between Ramsgate and Dolls Point are stopping to marvel at the operation.
A cutter / suction dredge is reclaiming 28,000 cubic metres of sand from the spit that gradually expanded over the last decade near the Georges River 16ft Sailing Club.
Sand and water are pumped through a pipe along the walkway before being disgorged at Ramsgate.
The operation has dramatically changed the beach profile at both ends.
A large amount of sand around the remains of the old wharf has largely disappeared and a lagoon formed by water from Sandringham Bay.
At the Ramsgate end, a mountain of sand has gradually extended further and further along the beachfront and is about to enter the baths area.
The project is due to be completed by the end of November to meet a state government funding condition.
The old wharf extended into deep water up until about 10-12 years ago.
In 2007, two young men drowned while swimming off the wharf.
As the sand spit grew, so did the danger for swimmers on the beach as the depth of the water increased sharply.
On December 22, 2013, a five-year-old boy drowned while swimming with his older brother.
The nearby Dolls Point swimming baths were clogged with sand and were unusable. They have since been removed.
That tragedy led to warning signs being placed in the area and Rockdale Council seeking state government funding for dredging to restore the natural beach profile.
The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage has provided Bayside Council with $245,000 towards the $700,000 cost, which the council has matched.
Roads and Maritime Services is contributing at least $230,062 and the federal government has been asked to meet the shortfall.
