Urgent solutions unlocked for Bribie Island rehabilitation projects 

The Crisafulli Government has today announced funding of $20 million to implement four urgent solutions to address erosion issues on Bribie Island and the impacts on Pumicestone Passage. 

The funding comes in response to recommendations from internationally renowned coastal engineering experts, commissioned by the Department of State Development Infrastructure and Planning in April this year. 

Initial, high-level investigations indicate that approximately 100,000 cubic metres of sand would be required to infill the two breakthroughs following Tropical Cyclone Alfred earlier this year. 

Since the first breakthrough in 2022, a range of impacts to Pumicestone Passage have become evident, including the closure of the original Caloundra Bar. 

Tidal levels have risen within the channel, with associated increases in water levels during high tides and storm events, and wave energy penetration has increased, causing ongoing shoreline erosion, sediment redistribution, and stress to seagrass and mangrove habit. 

In a report prepared for Government by independent expert consultants, RPS AAP Consulting Pty Ltd (RPS) in partnership with International Coastal Management (ICM), the experts have recommended four immediate interventions including: 

1. Closure of Breakthroughs #2 and #3  

2. Buffering of the island segment between Breakthrough #2 and Breakthrough #1   

3. Construction of an inner sandbank inside Breakthrough #1 to reduce wave energy entering the Passage 

4. Creating temporary channel and maintaining it from Breakthrough #1 to the Northern end of the passage   

These actions aim to mitigate ongoing damage to foreshore assets and infrastructure (public and private) within Pumicestone Passage, improve water quality and navigational safety, and provide interim protection while longer-term strategies are developed and assessed. 

The independent review will now consider longer-term solutions ahead of a final report later this year. 

Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, Jarrod Bleijie, said the funding was the first step in the Government’s commitment to protect residents at risk.  

“We promised the Caloundra community we would get to work on this urgently, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said.  

“The funding will be used to pump sand into the breakthroughs, close the most recent gaps, and create ‘sacrificial dunes’ to limit the impact of future erosion activity. 

“Caloundra residents are rightly concerned about community impacts, and we are taking swift action to ensure they are protected. 

“Without intervention, this remaining section of island may be lost entirely, potentially leading to significant further change in coastal processes and heightened infrastructure risk on The Passage foreshore.  

“The experts have advised this work will likely take a minimum of five months from commencement, so I have asked my Department to urgently start procurement action so we can get this underway.”