NEWCASTLE councillors are scheduled to vote this evening on a tender to construct a buried wall of 126 metres in length, to be built into the edge of Stockton beach at Pembroke Street, four blocks north of the Stockton surf life saving club.
As far as the broader plan to arrest the erosion of the southern end of Stockton beach is concerned, this buried seawall is an important addition to the existing ramparts protecting the shoreline before any long-term remedy can begin.
As is the usually case with tender selection, the matter is proposed for discussion in a closed session of the council.
What we do know from the open council papers is that three firms - Brefni, Haslin Constructions and Sanders Civilbuild - have tendered for the work, and that council officers have identified one of the three bids as the preferred course of action.
As explained in the council papers, the tenders have been assessed against six criteria: supplier diversity (5 per cent), work health and safety (10 per cent), pricing (40 per cent), program and capacity (10 per cent), methodology (10 per cent) and previous experience and references (25 per cent). The contract period is for eight months, with "a 12-month defect liability period".
Such a seemingly short liability period makes it doubly important that the council can be satisfied that the proposed works will withstand the immense forces that have been unleashed on this part of the beach in recent storms.
Ultimately, though, the longer term "rescue" of Stockton Beach depends on a years-long program of sand replenishment, with the council still talking with the state government about the final means of doing this.
The council papers note, too, that while the Stockton sea walls have protected the assets behind them, they have led to "a heightened risk" of erosion at their ends.
It's that erosion that this tender - and other proposed structures identified in the council's 2020 Stockton Coastal Management Program - are intended to counter.
And while offshore dredging is still apparently the preferred option for longer-term, the council's own consultants have shown sand is building up both at Nobbys and on Stockton beach north of the old township.
There is surely an argument to say we should consider using at least some of this sand before we disrupt the ocean environment with a decade of offshore dredging.
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