Napier port proposed wharf and dredging project: Working with nature for resource consent applications: Australasian Coasts and Ports 2019 Conference: Future directions from 40 [degrees] S and beyond, Hobart, 10-13 September 2019: Future directions from 40 [degrees] S and beyond, Hobart, 10-13 September 2019

Napier Port has recently been granted consents to invest in a new wharf and deeper navigation channel to ensure the Port can accommodate projected increases in the number and size of cargo vessels calling at Napier. The capital dredging work will excavate a new berth pocket for the wharf, deepen the existing swinging basin and harbour entrance, and progressively extend a deeper channel out from the Port, to a final depth of 14.5m. In total over three million m3 of material will be excavated over five dredging campaigns.

Napier Port has invested significantly in scientific studies on the marine environment of Hawke Bay, to understand the potential effects of dredging and dredge spoil disposal on the physical coastal processes and the wider coastal environment.

This paper describes the present understanding of sediment transport pathways around Napier, based on detailed technical studies that involved field observation, data measurement, and numerical and empirical modelling undertaken to support the resource consent application.