Subsidence sinkholes form along Marine Drive pedestrian footpath Myall Coast Myall Coast - popup ad Myall Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - June 14, 2023 Relatively recent utility poles and concrete pathways are being undermined. OVER a century of foot and motor traffic appears to be seriously testing the Tea Gardens foreshore, with sinkholes opening up along the Marine Drive footpaths. The Tea Gardens shoreline was once a narrow, sandy beach, the small patch of sand near the ANZAC Memorial serving as the last reminder of what it used to look like all the way down when the first cedar log ships came. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au When the river logging industry picked up in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, Tea Gardens’ foreshore was a bustling hive of industry and related services, ultimately leading to the need to buttress the sandy shore with rocks and cement. The result is what you can see and walk along today – an artificially raised riverwalk that happens to be one of the nicest strolls imaginable, with dolphins often mere metres away in the water. Recent images show how the seawall beneath the footpath along Marine Drive is sagging quite noticeably, with sinkholes forming where the underlay of sand and cement have been reduced to sediment, slowly flushed away by the daily ebb and flow of the Myall’s estuarine tides. Not many people may notice, as it is only visible from the waterside. Regular high and king-tides ensure that the water gets well and truly into the cracks, further undermining the footpath. The result is dangerous subsidence, often hidden by overgrown grass, perfect for catching and breaking a passing errant bike wheel, or pedestrian’s ankle. “MidCoast Council has filled in some of the holes with sand, but given the movement of the tides, digging into the side, it will most likely wash away soon,” the Myall River Action Group’s Gordon Grainger told NOTA. “Should an accident happen, Council will be subject to a heavy liability fee.” Further up towards the Police Station, where the oldest sections of footpath remain untouched, more sinkholes have been spotted, and potentially more are quietly forming anywhere along the entire length of Marine Drive. By Thomas O’KEEFE The ageing seawall is noticeably buckling along Marine Drive. Older footpath section near the Police Station suffering several subsidence sinkholes. The small beach near ANZAC Memorial Park, a vestige of what the entire shoreline once was.
