Te Rauone Beach settles in

It’s two and a half years since Te Rauone Beach’s initial sand deposits were placed along the shoreline.

The $3m Te Rauone Beach development involved construction of three 90-metre-long breakwater groynes and 28,000m3 of dredged sand being added to the beach area.

The “Year 2 Beach Monitoring Report” was delivered by infrastructure consultant Beca in July 2025 and is based on quarterly monitoring. The report determines sand and/or groyne maintenance requirements. 

Port Otago Environmental Planner Joanne Dowd says the report makes for positive reading. 

From the report: “Over the first and second year following beach nourishment, fluctuations in beach volumes appear to be reducing with time on the northern beach*, and possibly also on the central beach.”

For the southern beach, 2500m3 of sand was recycled in July 2024. Sand was gathered from below the mid-tide mark and trucked to the above-tide area. No sand was taken from the foredune system, and cockle beds were avoided.

Beca believes the reducing volatility indicates a trend towards dynamic stability for the northern beach.

Joanne: “All three beaches show trends towards flatter and more stable beach gradients and more uniform and stable beach crest widths. This is a great outcome given the dynamic nature of this area.” 

The next planned sand renourishment is scheduled for October 2025. Port Otago is installing a newly consented permanent pipeline, which will run from a point in the harbour, along the harbour bed to a point below the low-tide mark. “Also in October, we will undertake further sand recycling on the southern beach. Combining the work reduces potential disturbance for the community and environment and makes efficient use of the machinery while it’s on the beach.”

*Northern beach = closest to the Otago Harbour entrance; central beach; southern beach = Dunedin side of the southern groyne