Concrete pile construction has now been completed, with 217 concrete piles installed along the beachfront. Testing of these concrete piles by an independent consultant is continuing to ensure the structural integrity of each pile.
A sheet piling rig is now on-site installing sheet piles. This work is expected to be completed by the end of October. Once completed, the sheet piles will provide a hidden permanent protective barrier beneath the wall, designed to prevent sand from washing out from behind the new seawall structure.
Program
Completion, including promenade works and landscaping, is still forecast for April 2024. This is subject to adverse weather and any latent site conditions.
Visitor access
Visitors are reminded that Shark Beach and the promenade are construction sites, and safe access for visitors is not possible. The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) asks that visitors refrain from attempting to access the restricted areas at Shark Beach by water and land, as even the portions of the beach that are outside the immediate works area contain hazards and cannot be safely accessed.
NPWS understands the closure has impacted residents and visitors and would like to thank the community for their patience during this once in a lifetime project.
Did you know?
On Boxing Day 1892, 5 adults and 2 children drowned after their sailing boat Iolanthe capsized off the South Reef. The picnicking party had been ordered off a privately owned beach at Camp Cove and left with no option but to sail back out into increasingly squally conditions. William Notting, a keen sailor who had previously owned the Iolanthe, commenced a campaign to fight for public access to the southern foreshore of Sydney Harbour, arguing that the tragedy would never have happened had the group been permitted to stop on the private beach.
The Harbour Foreshores Vigilance Committee was formed in 1905, with Notting as Secretary, with the express purpose of lobbying the government to resume parts of Vaucluse and Parsley bays to become public space. Notting repeatedly referred to the Iolanthe tragedy, particularly after the Wentworth family fenced off the foreshore of their Vaucluse Estate and instructed their caretaker to prevent people from landing on the public beach.
Notting's efforts resulted in the creation of public lands at Vaucluse Bay, Parsley Bay, Nielsen Park, Hermitage Foreshore Reserve and Strickland House, and he became one of the first trustees of Nielsen Park. One of the first acts of the new Nielsen Park Trust was to remove the fences that Notting had for so long campaigned against.
Sheet piling wall in progress at the western portion of seawall, 21 September 2023 
Sheet piling wall in progress at the western end of seawall, 5 October 2023