Sandy Bay is a village, bay and beach located on a small bay on the eastern Mediterranean coast of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...

, on the opposite side of The Rock from the main city. It is situated to the south of Catalan Bay and is accessible via Sir Herbert Miles Road.

Water catchments

Directly above Sandy Bay and the Sir Herbert Miles coast road were Gibraltar's large water catchments, which are no longer in use. The slope on which they sat is the

Great Gibraltar Sand Dune The Great Gibraltar Sand Dune is an ancient sand dune in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It forms part of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve and dominates the eastern cliffs of the Rock of Gibraltar. It was once used to capture rainwat ...

, an ancient consolidated

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

which dominates the east side of the

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabel-al-Tariq) is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, and near the entrance to the Medite ...

. The dune's naturally smooth surface allowed for the construction of a water catchment area made up of a corrugated steel sheets and a layer of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

water flowed down the slope into an open channel which fed into the

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

system inside The Rock.Discovergibraltar.com ''Sandy Bay''
In 1898, work began on four 5 million gallon water reservoirs which were cut into the western side of The Rock. They were officially opened by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

George Stuart White in 1901. These reservoirs were fed by relatively small water catchment areas on the western side of The Rock. The water catchments above Sandy Bay were built in stages between 1903 and 1961, and were designed to cater for Gibraltar's ever increasing demand. The original plan was to cover an area of . Between 1911 and 1914 a fifth reservoir was excavated inside the Rock and the catchment area increased to . By 1961 the total catchment area had increased to its maximum of .

Today

In 2001, the

Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society The Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society (''GONHS''), founded in 1976, is a non-governmental, membership-based organisation committed to research into and conservation of nature in Gibraltar and the region of the Strait of Gibralta ...

began to manage the phased work of dismantling this catchment construction. By 2006 the slope was entirely restored to its natural state and is now completely covered in vegetation native to this unique habitat of Gibraltar.GONHS - Image of successfully revegetated slope
It is possible to continue south along Sir Herbert Miles road and through

Dudley Ward Tunnel Dudley Ward Way is a road tunnel through the south-eastern part of the Rock of Gibraltar. It is named after Sir Alfred Dudley Ward, Governor of Gibraltar from 8 June 1962 to 5 August 1965. The road running through the tunnel links the eastern si ...

all the way to Europa Point at the southern tip of Gibraltar. Following a rockfall on 18 February 2002, which killed a man, the Government concluded that the risk of further such incidents was too great, and the tunnel was closed indefinitely. However, in 2007 its reopening was suggested by the Government to ease traffic flow in the area of the new Rosia residential developments. The tunnel re-opened in November 2010, on completion of extensive engineering works. Sandy Bay is home to one of the few residential areas on the east side of The Rock, known as Both Worlds.

Regeneration works

On 25 June 2014, officials of Gibraltar inaugurated the new Sandy Bay after a considerable public investment to recover the almost non-existent beach. The works enlarged the beach with approximately 50,000 tons of sand imported from Laayoune in the

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...

. Two curved groynes and a frontal breakwater were constructed to protect the beach from the full erosional impact of wave action and trap shifting sand, including a submerged breakwater connecting the ends of both

groyne A groyne (in the U.S. groin) is a rigid hydraulic structure built perpendicularly from an ocean shore (in coastal engineering) or a river bank, interrupting water flow and limiting the movement of sediment. It is usually made out of wood, concr ...

References

{{Gibraltar topics Bays of Gibraltar Beaches of Gibraltar Areas of Gibraltar

Water catchments

Today

Regeneration works

See also

References