Engineering initiative helps solve beach problem in Port Elizabeth

Hobie Beach, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, is situated on a section of Algoa Bay that has a shallow, gently sloping, rocky seabed. In the past this feature resulted in a relatively thin covering of sand on the beach. A pier was built to extend this headland by incorporating into the pier a continuous barrier along the seabed, thereby increasing the depth of the sand on Hobie Beach. Because of its prominence on the beachfront it was essential that the pier should be attractive and pleasing to the public. The pier comprises a 136-m-long deck supported on an abutment and 11 columns. The deck is 6 m to 9 m wide. The structure has been designed to withstand the roughest seas and to be resistant to the aggressive coastal environment. The columns and their spread footings were made of heavy hollow interlocking precast units placed on the seabed and stacked to a suitable height above the water level before being filled with tremie concrete.