Bent Street dredging project nears completion just in time for summer

Dredging at Rockingham’s popular Bent Street navigation channel and Tern Bank sandbar is on track to be over by the end of the month. Crews started dredging operations on the Tern Bank sandbar via Carlisle Street boat ramp in late October and the mound of ocean debris has continued to grow throughout November. The dark sand pile will be transported to Millar Road landfill facility for use as cell capping material. The process has cost the City of Rockingham about $810,000 but is expected to make it safer for boaties around the Bent Street ramps. The City of Rockingham spent more than $1 million on similar action last November. A draft of the council’s 15-year strategic boating plan, which was put out for public comment earlier this year, said it would cost $750,000 to maintain the Bent Street facility until 2028. Much of the cost is associated with removing the sand which, in the longer term, may be moved to another part of the ocean. But if such an approach does not win environmental favour, the council will take another look at “downgrading” the Bent Street boat ramp. The Bent Street ramp has remained open during the current dredging period, but the nearby Carlisle Street boat ramp was closed temporarily to accommodate trucks.