Environmental Management of the Construction and Operation of a Sand Bypassing System at the Tweed River Entrance

In December 1999, the State Governments of NSW and Queensland awarded contracts to a private consortium headed by McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. for the financing, design, construction, and long-term operation and maintenance of a permanent sand bypassing system at the entrance to the Tweed River. Construction of the permanent sand bypassing system commenced in February 2000 and full-scale operations commenced in May 2001. Environmental planning approval for the project required the development and implementation of environmental management plans that addressed ongoing monitoring and risk management of significant environmental issues associated with the construction and long-term operation of the system. Contract specifications for the sand bypassing system, required the development of separate Environmental Management Systems for the construction and operations stages of the project that were prepared in accordance with the Australian Standard AS/NZS ISO 14000 series. This paper outlines the potential environmental impacts identified, the structure and implementation of the Project's Environmental Management Systems, monitoring programs, and results from monitoring during the construction phase.