Overnight on the first night of creating the Duke's Head Channel, the "mouth" has silted over. This was caused by a combination of the overnight high tide and big swell pushing sand up onto the beach, and the sides of the channel collapsing and the sand falling in and not being swept away. There is now a lot of conjecture about whether or not it will work. The trench digger is back in action. It seems to me the channel has been cut too obliquely from the river to the sea. You will see from photos below (the last two) that the channel comes in at a right angle off the river. This doesn't seem natural, nor how rivers are naturally shaped. Also there is bedrock about the first third of the way in, thus limiting the depth and the amount of water gushing through the channel (that is when it is able to). Obviously the stronger it gushes the greater the chance of establishing a permanent mouth. In summer the river level may well be lower than this bedrock. If so then the river will be unable to follow the present channel course. It will need to change shape before then. I spoke to the operators of the trench digger and they said that with persistence it will work. But maybe the money will run out by then. (The Shire is not noted for its largess, especially to things Augusta.) These people also thought the channel should have been cut further to the east (where Trevor Price says there is no bedrock). Price thinks it could work if the course changes direction naturally to get away from the bedrock. You can easily sense his disappointment and frustration at the moment. He is the river's only professional fisherman and he knows it like the back of his hand. Surprisingly, no-one sought his advice about where the cut should go. If it was up to me, I would cut my losses and start again, this time coming in more of a straight line off the river and directly through the dunes to the east of the present position. This is where Price would have suggested it to go. I hope the new channel works, and it can work, but I don't think the configuration of the channel is right. I don't feel optomistic at the moment. Time will tell.
Overnight on the first night of creating the Duke's Head Channel, the "mouth" has silted over. This was caused by a combination of the overnight high tide and big swell pushing sand up onto the beach, and the sides of the channel collapsing and the sand falling in and not being swept away. There is now a lot of conjecture about whether or not it will work. The trench digger is back in action. It seems to me the channel has been cut too obliquely from the river to the sea. You will see from photos below (the last two) that the channel comes in at a right angle off the river. This doesn't seem natural, nor how rivers are naturally shaped. Also there is bedrock about the first third of the way in, thus limiting the depth and the amount of water gushing through the channel (that is when it is able to). Obviously the stronger it gushes the greater the chance of establishing a permanent mouth. In summer the river level may well be lower than this bedrock. If so then the river will be unable to follow the present channel course. It will need to change shape before then. I spoke to the operators of the trench digger and they said that with persistence it will work. But maybe the money will run out by then. (The Shire is not noted for its largess, especially to things Augusta.) These people also thought the channel should have been cut further to the east (where Trevor Price says there is no bedrock). Price thinks it could work if the course changes direction naturally to get away from the bedrock. You can easily sense his disappointment and frustration at the moment. He is the river's only professional fisherman and he knows it like the back of his hand. Surprisingly, no-one sought his advice about where the cut should go. If it was up to me, I would cut my losses and start again, this time coming in more of a straight line off the river and directly through the dunes to the east of the present position. This is where Price would have suggested it to go. I hope the new channel works, and it can work, but I don't think the configuration of the channel is right. I don't feel optomistic at the moment. Time will tell.
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