Yunderup Channel Dredging About to Begin

The Shire of Murray, situated in the center of the Peel Region, Western Australia, has engaged CGC Dredge Contractors to undertake a maintenance dredge of the Yunderup Channel as it approaches the Yunderup Canals residential development area.

According to the news release, the works will employ a cutter suction dredge operation with in-estuary disposal and are scheduled to take approximately 15 weeks to complete – subject to favorable weather conditions.

The works will have no impact on vessels entering the Yunderup canals, however recreational boater need to respect the presence of the dredgers, ans stay clear of the operations, the Shire of Murray said.

A Dredge Management Plan was prepared to support the works approval process and timing of the works have been targeted to:

• Avoid the December to March period when migrating seabirds and shore birds are at their greatest diversity and abundance;
• Avoid summer months being peak period for seagrass growth;
• Avoid summer months being a peak recreational use period;
• Consultants RPS Group were engaged to undertake the environmental assessment.

The Yunderup Channel is 3000 meters in length and is designed to accommodate vessels of up to 8.0m in length with a 0.8m draught below water level.

The maintenance dredge program is typically required every 10 years to maintain a suitable channel depth to accommodate vessels accessing the canals. Previous dredging project removed around 30,000 cubic meters of dredged material from the area.