North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Been reading post of the past about new ramp. Just a question can I get recommendation on the lowest safest tide for a 6 meter boat I thinking around 2.5 to 3 meters from tractor days.and how is the lighting at night? Might just go have a look tomorrow. Thanks

Mate I was there yest. There were 8 meter boats launching no problems at all. Anything above 1 metre is fine. Didnt check the lighting???

Not looking too good for the Dundee ramp.


That's a lot of sand.


Credit ABC Tales From The Tiny - Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/ABCTalesfromth ... 460777689/

I launched and retrieved Sunday and again today (launched at 0500), no issues.

Would the front end loader be a part of ongoing maintenance allowed in the budget???

Apparently a maintenance contract is in place. I am not sure if they counted on the volume of sand.
I heard it said that the sand is coming from the north. so the wall needs sand blocking tecnology

So to sum it up, all they did was move the problem with the old ramp over to a New ramp .

Time for the Tractors to start up again , And the government should pay all the tractor fees .
Probably cheaper than the so called " Maintenance ".

fish4me123 wrote:Apparently a maintenance contract is in place. I am not sure if they counted on the volume of sand.
I heard it said that the sand is coming from the north. so the wall needs sand blocking tecnology

Yes the plan is to keep removing the sand build up until there is no more sand left in the ocean. wont take long!
This is what happens when you go for the cheapest design. by the time they get to sort it out, this govt will be in opposition again and they will be hoping that the CLP will have to fix their cockup

Might just be the westerlies, might not be an issue in the Dry

Tender information that I found online, note this information might be out dated or incorrect:

Tender: T16-1035
Awarded To: Mark Cundall Earthmoving Pty Ltd
Requisition: Darwin Region - Fog Bay - Dundee Beach - Boat Ramp Reconstruction
Value: $4,790,164

Tender: T15-2012 (Quotation)
Awarded To: GHD Pty Ltd
Requisition: Darwin Region - Dundee Beach Boat Ramp - Study, Design and Document Upgrades
Value: $345,630

Tender: T14-1124
Awarded To: Dundee Beach Boat Hire P/L
Requisition: Darwin Region - Dundee Beach - Maintain Dundee Beach Boat Ramp for a Period of 12 Months
Value: $33,000

Tender: T13-1171
Awarded To: Global Marine & Engineering Pty Ltd
Requisition: Supply and Installation of Navigation Aids at Dundee Boat Ramp
Value: $116,100

I can't find the actual tenders which is annoying, especially for "Study, Design and Document upgrades" Tender. I remember seeing a document regarding the shady camp boat ramp design or something to that affect.

Dundee Beach Boat Hire are being paid $33,000 to "maintain" the ramp, which I guess means 'remove all the sand that builds up' for a period of 12 months. What happens after that?

And where does the blame lie for the design of the ramp? Do we blame GHD Pty LTD who were paid $345,630 according to Tender T15-2012 or do we blame the NTG who chose the implemented design from what might (just speculation) have been several designs at different costs?

Yeah its not as if this was the first beach ramp to ever be designed. There are thousands of large tidal movement ramps around the world so surely they could have copied one of them.
Of course they would have to do the design based on hydrology for the area but even I could see that the design wasn’t going to work. The groin is almost identical to the existing one. Whenever you try to beat nature, you end up looking stupid.
I still say they need 2 x groins with a large curve at the very ends of both to form a ‘cupped hands’ shape to divert the sand away from the ramp.
What I find interesting is that they KNEW IT WOULDN’T WORK and that’s why they awarded the 12 mth maintenance contract - i bet he is kicking himself with the amount of work the loader is going to do. $33k wont even pay for the fuel.

Has anyone got photos of the old ramp before the rock wall don't remember being a sand problem back then

Sand build up certainty was a problem on the old ramp.

Original plans for all of the design options involved two walls and were costed at between $7-9M, the CLP Government then decided to award $4.8M to build a (at the bare minimum) a $7M ramp.........that is why we have this problem.

nomad wrote:Yeah its not as if this was the first beach ramp to ever be designed. There are thousands of large tidal movement ramps around the world so surely they could have copied one of them.
Of course they would have to do the design based on hydrology for the area but even I could see that the design wasn’t going to work. The groin is almost identical to the existing one. Whenever you try to beat nature, you end up looking stupid.
I still say they need 2 x groins with a large curve at the very ends of both to form a ‘cupped hands’ shape to divert the sand away from the ramp.
What I find interesting is that they KNEW IT WOULDN’T WORK and that’s why they awarded the 12 mth maintenance contract - i bet he is kicking himself with the amount of work the loader is going to do. $33k wont even pay for the fuel.

It goes back to the political timing of the CLP. They needed a good news story heading into last years election, especially as the former fisheries minister is also the local member. I don't think it was ever about doing it properly. It was all about political timing.