Shark Beach will open in mid-December 2024.

Reconstruction of a damaged seawall at Nielsen Park in Vaucluse has been further stalled by construction defects, dashing hopes that the popular eastern suburbs beach will reopen by early summer.

Weeks after residents were told construction work was likely to be completed by the end of November and that the beach would reopen as soon as possible, NSW Parks and Wildlife said defects found on concrete stairs at the site had been postponed Expected completion date is mid-December.

“The difficult decision to demolish the faulty staircase was made as it would provide the fastest possible solution to the problem while maintaining a cohesive appearance,” the project said in a project update on Friday.

Shark Beach, better known as Nielsen Park, which surrounds it, has been closed since March 2022 to allow for the replacement of a 100-year-old seawall that was damaged during storms in 2016.

The beach was originally expected to open in December 2022, but the construction project was derailed by wet weather, the discovery of asbestos and an engineering dispute.

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Last month, NSW Parks and Wildlife said it expected the dam to be completed by the end of November and that it would reopen the site as soon as possible after construction is completed. The exact opening date has not been specified.

But in a project update last week, the service said workers discovered late last month that some staircases inside the dam structure had been poured in dimensions that did not comply with the Building Code of Australia.

The service said that while the “variances are minor,” crews will have to demolish and reconstruct some staircases to make them compliant.