A project to widen the beach surrounding the San Clemente Pier has wrapped up, for now, just in time for the unofficial start of the summer season.
Beach crowds flocking to the area may notice a more expansive beach, offering up more towel and play space than in recent years.
Leslea Meyerhoff, San Clemente’s coastal administrator, did a final walk through on Thursday, May 23, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer project managers and the contractor, Manson Construction, calling the completion of the first phase a “significant milestone.”
The city, along with the project partners, will hold an event to commemorate the long awaited replenishment at 2 p.m. on May 31.
Originally, the contractor was only expecting to finish spreading about 92,000 cubic yards of new sand as part of the first phase, so getting an estimated 140,000 cubic yards was welcome news, Meyerhoff said.
The contractor is still in the process of demobilization, with construction material expected to be off the beach in coming days so people can enjoy the brand new sand, she said. A submerged pipe is scheduled to be removed next week.
“It’s very noticeable, especially on the south side of the pier where they were able to build out about 75 feet of beach width,” Meyerhoff said.
When the project resumes next fall, the sand will be filled in on the north side of the pier, she said.
The sand, because it was brought from the bottom of the ocean, is a bit darker in color, but that is expected to mix in with existing grains.
“It’s already starting to blend in as the waves are moving the sand around, the difference in color is less noticeable,” Meyerhoff said. “It’s a very wide, beautiful beach.”
The project, which calls for a total of 251,000 cubic yards of sand between T-Street and Linda Lane, will be put on hiatus until about mid-October, allowing for summer beachgoers to enjoy the area without having to share the shore with bulldozers and barriers.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project is 20 years in the making. The endeavor was supposed to start in December, but an original source site of sand off Oceanside produced more rocks and cobble than expected.. So the project shifted to dredging sand from offshore of Surfside in north Orange County, where there was a known source.
The replenishment is expected to be repeated every five years, for the next 50 years, though each round will need to secure federal funding.
The Army Corps project is just the start in the city’s quest to build back its eroding beaches – a problem for its recreational and economic lure as a tourist beach town, but also a the loss of a protective measure as a buffer between the ocean and infrastructure.
Much of the troubles stem from a lack of sand supply coming down the San Juan Creek due to inland development, the concreting of channels and drought conditions in recent years, so the city, along with other coastal towns suffering from similar erosion trouble, must figure out how to manually bring the sand from elsewhere to fill in the beach, Meyerhoff said.
In the works for the city’s long-term, comprehensive strategy for beach sand replenishment are two possible opportunistic projects, though they are still in the permitting process, she said.
The first is about 30,000 cubic yards of sand available from the Santa Ana River, which needs to be removed due to flooding concerns, offered up by the county’s OC Parks department.
The sand would be free, but the city would pay for transport. It would likely be placed at North Beach, Meyerhoff said.
A second possible project would be a collaboration with State Parks, which is offering excess sand from Huntington State Beach that could be available this fall, Meyerhoff said.
Also, the Orange County Transportation Authority, in its latest proposal for protecting the rail line that runs through town ahead of the next wet winter season, has included the idea of adding about 500,000 cubic yards of sand along with its proposal to fortify the tracks with riprap and a containment wall.
More discussion about San Clemente’s coastal future will happen at an upcoming Orange County Transportation Authority “listening session;” the public meeting will be 5 to 6:30 p.m. on May 30, at San Clemente City Hall.
