Officials celebrate long-awaited sand project in Surfside

Officials gathered on the sand Wednesday, Dec. 13, for a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the start of the Surfside-Sunset Sand Replenishment Project.

The $23 million project is bringing an estimated 1.1 million cubic yards of sand to the shoreline, piped in from the ocean just south of the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach and smoothed out by heavy machinery.  When it is finished, the beach will be between 350 feet and 900 feet wider along a 4,500-foot-long section of the coast.

The project, spearheaded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is expected to run through February. The Army Corps contributed $15.5 million, while the rest of the cost was covered by other agencies, including the California State Parks, the Division of Boating and Waterways, the Surfside Storm Water Tax District, the County of Orange and the cities of Seal Beach, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.

“From coordination and planning to execution, and soon, project completion, this is a team effort and a collective victory for the Corps and our local, state and federal partners,” Susie Ming, chief of the Army Corps’ Los Angeles District Coastal Section, said in a statement. “This teamwork helps ensure these beachside communities stay protected from coastal erosion for years to come.”

It has been 14 years since the last sand replenishment – which is designed to happen every five to seven years – and officials have said the impacts to the coast have become apparent in recent years, with major streets and parking lots flooding due to the sand buffer between the battering sea and infrastructure shrinking.

“It’s long overdue and something that is going to be needed in the future,” State Parks Superintendent Kevin Pearsall said.

Pearsall oversees nearby Bolsa Chica State Beach, which during last year’s winter storms experienced sea water rushing up over the sand and onto Pacific Coast Highway, something that hadn’t happened for 15 years.

“I think it’s needed,” he said. “King tides, the lack of sand and increased amount of winter activity – it’s a contributing factor.”

The sand is expected to be pushed down the coast by currents and swells, to deposit onto Bolsa Chica, Huntington Beach and toward Newport Beach. As part of the project, Newport Beach is doing a separate sand replenishment using sediment from the Santa Ana River, with about 100,000 cubic yards to be put between groin jetties in West Newport.

The construction contract was awarded to Manson Construction in October and marks Stage 13 of the project. The project was supposed to deposit 1.8 million cubic yards of sand, but higher-than-expected costs caused the project to be downsized.

Assemblymember Diane Dixon was one of the many politicians who helped push for the project’s start, giving credit also to U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel, who lobbied in Washington, D.C. to help get the federal funds needed to restart the project.

“It takes a village, a lot of advocates and supporters for years,” Dixon said. “It’s much-needed sand. Our beaches are in desperate need of replenished sand, all along the coast.”

It’s critical to have beaches people want to visit – a key part of the region’s economic vitality, she said.

“That is absolutely critical to keeping our beaches pristine, beautiful and functioning as beaches,” Dixon said. “This is really important to all of us.”