The City of Cape Town will, in the second week of July 2022, commence with a dune rehabilitation project that forms part of a longer-term initiative to rehabilitate, revitalise and maintain the Table View beachfront, one of the city’s prime tourist attractions along the Atlantic coastline.

The work will take place along a stretch of 3km of coastline – from Dolphin Beach in the south to Bokkombaai in the north – to rehabilitate the dune system, improve pedestrian access to the beach, implement sand management and upgrade various facilities, services and infrastructure.

‘Table View beach gives us an iconic view of Table Mountain in the distance, it is a favourite kite-surfing spot in summer months, and extremely popular among locals and visitors from all walks of life. Unfortunately, over the past 15 years or so, the public amenities and coastal infrastructure have deteriorated due to the impact of the local environment. The beach is not as pristine as it used to be, the dune cordon has deteriorated and lost its ability to protect the surrounding infrastructure from windblown sand, and the parking facilities, beach access, and services such as the stormwater infrastructure are in urgent need of repairs and replacement.

‘The project to upgrade Table View beachfront will commence in the second week of July, kicking off with the profiling or rehabilitation of the dunes from Dolphin Beach to Bokkomsbaai. We are extremely excited about this undertaking as it will significantly improve this stretch of our coastline to the benefit of all our residents and visitors,’ said the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews.

The earthworks related to the dune rehabilitation will commence on 11 July 2022, if all goes as planned. Sand will be moved using a combination of dozers, excavators and dump trucks to reinstate the dunes, covering an area of eight hectares. Once profiled, the dunes will be stabilised using wind nets placed perpendicular to the dominant wind direction and revegetated with suitable dune-specific plant species, and irrigated.

The work will take place as follows:

• from Dolphin Beach to Bokkombaai

• Monday to Friday, from 07:00 to 17:00, weather permitting

• on the beach will be machinery to move sand and teams installing wind nets, plants, and irrigation

• visitors must note there may be noise due to the machinery working on the beach

• work will take place in sections, moving progressively from south to north, to allow the public to visit sections that are not being worked on

• the beach will be open to the public, but all are advised to avoid the areas where work is taking place and to keep dogs on a lead

• the parking areas will not be impacted at this point in time

All-in-all the dune rehabilitation will take about 18 to 20 months, thus the work will be ongoing until June 2024.

‘We will put up fencing to protect the newly profiled dunes. I ask residents and visitors to please use the designated pathways to access the beach, and to stay clear of the dunes so that we can give the vegetation a chance to be established. Dunes fulfil an important function as they help trap sand on the beachfront, and prevent it from being blown onto roads and adjacent infrastructure,’ said Alderman Andrews.

The project also includes:

• The demolition of derelict ablution blocks located on the beach

• The demolition of other derelict infrastructure that is currently buried by the mobile dune system

Temporary ablution facilities will be provided as the new facilities will be built only after the dune work has been completed.

The upgrade of the Table View beachfront, inclusive of a new walkway along the coast, parking, and ablution facilities, will be complete by mid-2025.

‘We are starting off with the dune project as this is the most cost-effective and pragmatic approach to protect and invest in rehabilitating ecosystems and ecological infrastructure. When these systems are fully functional, they help to create a quality coastal space for all of us. Once complete, the vegetated dune cordon in Table View will provide us with a natural buffer against storm surges and the longer-term projected impacts of sea-level rise, and will mitigate the smothering of infrastructure by wind-blown sand,’ said Alderman Andrews.

The City successfully implemented a similar dune rehabilitation project in Hout Bay over the past five years. This project demonstrated how dunes, once rehabilitated and stabilised, can manage wind-blown sand and reduce the maintenance burden of adjacent infrastructure.

Source: City Of Cape Town