It may have easily found its way into a Coogee ocean pool during the Sydney storm in June, but removing the massive 30-tonne rock is proving to be a complex and difficult task.

Randwick City Council has explored a number of different options to safely remove the rock given its immense size, including using explosives, helicopters and floats.

The rock will be removed through a new rock breaking technique using powder poured into pre-drilled holes in the rock which will expand when mixed with water. The extreme pressure (18,000 pounds per square inch) will crack the rock into smaller pieces for easier removal. 

A 180-tonne crane fixed at the top of Dunningham Reserve at Coogee will winch down
two 5-tonne excavators each day to break the rock and remove it from the Baths.  The crane will then remove the excavators when the tide comes in.

Mayor of Randwick, Noel D’Souza, said the issue was a new one for Council.

“We’ve never had a situation where we have had to remove a rock the same size as a humpback whale from one of our ocean pools! 

“It’s taken a lot of careful planning and preparation to remove the rock, but we are now ready to remove the giant rock safely and quickly so Giles Baths can be open to the public again in time for summer,” said Mayor D’Souza.

The north end of Coogee Beach will be closed to beachgoers for the duration of the removal which will is expected to take five days pending the weather and the tides.