<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An offshore dredge spewing a rainbow of sand towards Main Beach is just one part of the estimated $50 million effort to restore the 320,000 semi-trailer loads of sand lost from </span><a href="http://www.9news.com.au/gold-coast" rel="" target="" title="Gold Coast"><span>Gold Coast</span></a><span> beaches during </span><a href="http://www.9news.com.au/tropical-cyclone-alfred" rel="" target="" title="Tropical Cyclone Alfred"><span>Tropical Cyclone Alfred</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But as fast as sand is pumped onto the shore, high tides and strong swells wash it away again.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The owners of multimillion-dollar properties at Main Beach are desperately trying to save what is left of their backyards.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/explosions-ring-out-across-irans-capital-as-israel-claims-it-is-attacking-the-country/49e40c56-6e92-46ca-8d1c-b4edef51d5a2" target="_blank"><strong><span>Iran pledges 'decisive' counterattack as Israel strikes nuclear program</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>What was once beachfront is now clifftop.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The beach is the narrowest it's been in 25 years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jess Symmons, from Melbourne, is one of countless tourists who have made their annual sojourn north to escape the cold, only to find 30 metres of beach, and the coastal walkway, are missing.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/gold-coast-beach-erosion-impacts-cyclone-alfred-causes-recovery-efforts/aaceaa13-4100-48fa-9dfe-94fa389dcf62" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We couldn't work out where the path had gone when we got here a couple of days ago, and yeah, we couldn't work out how they were gonna rebuild it," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/air-india-crash-uk-man-reportedly-survives-plane-crash-in-ahmedabad/37171360-3df7-49c1-8cd1-a0bfc2edcc22" target="_blank"><strong><span>Miracle in seat 11A: Sole survivor of Air India crash describes being thrown out of plane</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We usually access the beach along here every morning for a swim, so it just means that we have to change up our plans a little bit and head a bit further down.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><blockquote><span>"It's sad without the lifeguards and you've got kids that want to swim in the ocean."</span></blockquote></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Main Beach resident Tony Pound reckons, at times, the erosion is getting worse.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It seems to be all working, but when they get a big tide or swell, it's back to square one, you know, so they've got a bit of work to do.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I can't see that it's gonna be finished for a long time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"(Locals) are just a bit depressed about the whole thing and they were expecting quicker results but you know, it just can't happen like that."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/air-india-plane-crash-update-boeing-787-was-in-australia-days-before-crash/6bbaf65d-e72d-4daf-b4f5-ba5658050ef2" target="_blank"><strong><span>Air India plane was in Australia days before crash disaster</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Gold Coast's beaches are already some of the most managed and engineered in the world and much of the infrastructure needed to do the restoration work is already in place or under construction.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Geobags filled with sand are used to form artificial reefs, already in place at Palm Beach and Narrowneck, to bear the brunt of large swells before they reach the shore.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Sand that naturally collects at the Gold Coast Seaway is transported across to South Stradbroke Island or south to Surfers Paradise, Narrowneck and Main Beach via underground pipelines, usually during winter when the beaches are quiet.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But it's a slow process.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Gold Coast City Council estimates it could take three years for beaches to recover from the damage wreaked by Alfred.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ratepayers have been hit with a one-off $10 levy to cover the clean-up bill.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But there's no guarantee there won't be further destructive weather events before the recovery is complete.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/air-india-plane-crash-everything-we-know-miraculous-survival-passenger-vishwash-kumar-ramesh/126debf7-2bd5-4ebc-9e50-a0c7f93bd270" target="_blank"><strong><span>Everything we know about the 'miraculous' survival of Air India passenger</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The three pillars of sand, sea walls and dune vegetation isn't really cutting it because climate change is increasing, sea levels are rising, storm surges are increasing, all these factors are combining to make this problem worse," Mark Ellis, a coastal erosion researcher from Bond University, said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Whether this is Main Beach, Wamberal, Collaroy, or Western Australia or New Zealand, this is happening across the world.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I understand people want to maintain their assets... but how much is the ratepayer going to put into maintaining those private assets?</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"In the long term, some of those houses might need to be removed or pushed back, you know, maybe create more of a green strip.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is the big discussion that we need to have, because sooner or later, you can build the wall higher, but the sea is going to keep on rising."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said the Gold Coast City Council's Coastal Adaptation Plan, which sets out how the city will manage and mitigate coastal hazards up to 2100, may need to be significantly fast-tracked.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Short term we need to be protecting what's there, but long term looking to how we reduce the vulnerability of the coastal strip because cyclones, as we know, are getting stronger, waves are getting more intense... we just can't keep up... the council has ssen that it can't keep up with the sand nourishment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We need to change the way we think about coastal property, because everyone loves to live at the beach and we don't begrudge them living there but society needs to be looking at how we can move forward in the future with the climate impact."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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