MAKING MOLEHILLS OUT OF SAND DUNES

Enhancing its coastal beauty, this waterfront rehabilitation project makes beach access for residents a breeze

Located just an hour north of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast, Bokarina Beach is a masterplanned community offering everything residents need for a coastal lifestyle of sun, sand and surf. With a network of walkways and cycle paths connecting users to the beach, this oceanside location offers a place for a healthy and active lifestyle. Making it possible is a 182-metre-long footpath known as the Bokarina Beach Dune Crossing.

Constructed by rehabilitation specialists Evolve Environmental Solutions, the Dune Crossing aids residents, Surf Life Saving Queensland and emergency services to access the beach through a sensitive landscape. Traversing the hind dune Melaleuca forests, dunal Banksi and Pandanus community, as well as Spinifex grass to get to the ocean, this integrated walkway is an important infrastructure route for protecting the environment and incorporating functionality into the newly developed region.

As the principal contractor on the project, Evolve was engaged to ensure the seamless integration of all layers of the environment. Folding in a respect for and acknowledgement of the layers included a nesting sea turtle habitat, as well as the cultural heritage of remnant Melaleuca forests, all while ensuring public facilities were operational.

In order to achieve harmonious integration, the design brief called for the construction of a footpath to be woven through the sensitive dunal communities, in order to formalise access for a newly developed bathing zone on the beach. Hardscaping was achieved in line with the Sunshine Coast Council’s design and access requirements, while vegetation was planted to reinstate the dunal ecosystem disturbed by recent construction.

Key features of the project include the construction of a Lifeguard Tower, a timber viewing deck and fully accessible beach access for pedestrians. Keeping consistent with Sunshine Coast beach front communities, rehabilitation plantings were chosen from native species.

Maintaining its natural charm while installing the infrastructure needed to secure and protect the native habitat, Evolve were able to create a balanced landscape that offers ease of use and safe access to beachgoers with plenty of amenity that doesn’t blight the view.