Newcastle City Council says coastal engineers used 25 years of wave data to ensure the new South Newcastle beach skate park will withstand heavy storms.
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The Herald reported this week that surfers were concerned that backwash from the skate park would ruin their waves at high tide.
They believed the skate bowl, which is part of an $11 million redevelopment co-funded by the council and the state government, was too close to the water and could be susceptible to damage during storms.
One surfer sent a video to the Herald on Tuesday showing waves surging against the South Newcastle beach promenade an hour before high tide.
But the council said the skate park had been designed to cope with big swells.
“A coastal engineering report was prepared in the initial stages of design for South Newcastle to determine the level of risk involved in placing infrastructure eastward of the existing seawall,” a spokesperson said.
The report had considered how the skate park would affect sand and wave movement, maximum foreseeable water levels and wave forces on the structure. It had used 25 years of data on storm surges, tides, wave run-up and predicted sea-level rises.
“This was then used to determine the structural design required to withstand wave impact in severe weather events, as well as the final shape of the structure to minimise impacts on the beach,” the spokesperson said.
The council said other skate parks coped with similar seaside conditions at Bondi, Alex Beach in Queensland, Venice Beach in Los Angeles and Rockaway Beach in New York.
Large parts of the Bondi beach skate park have been buried with sand several times during big storms.
“Sand and water will collect in the bowl during severe weather events, as they do along all our coastal assets,” the Newcastle council spokesperson said.
“This was taken into account and appropriate drainage has been incorporated into the design.
“As for sand build-up, council will work with the skateboarding community, as we have done at Empire Park for many years, to ensure that the facilities remain safe for all to enjoy.”
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