San Clemente’s sand replenishment project is off to a rocky start.
A dredging operation to widen the city’s beach has officials concerned that the material being brought from offshore Oceanside has too much cobble – or rocky material – and not enough of the fluffy sand the beach town expected.
The $14 million project resumed on Monday, Jan. 8, following a two-week pause in the operation due to weather and maintenance issues with the dredger. But as the project continues, city officials say they are keeping a watchful eye on what is being piped onto the beach.
San Clemente City Manager Andy Hall sent a letter on Dec. 26 to Manson Construction Company requesting the dredging operation “immediately stop pumping cobble onto the beach,” urging the company to review maps, sample data and analyses that indicate the geographic location and depths “where the beach-quality sand is located.”
Councilman Chris Duncan said geological studies show there is sand at the dredge site off Oceanside, but there appears to be a layer of cobble and gravel on top – and that’s what the dredger is bringing to the beach.
The city has been in contact with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is spearheading the project, and they are receptive to the city’s concerns, Duncan said.
Doland Cheung, project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers, said it is typical at the start of a dredging project to see some amount of cobble and stone that is bigger than “beach compatible” material. That may have not been communicated to the city prior to the project start, he acknowledged.
The site was analyzed by Army Corps engineers around 2010 and pre-construction surveys conducted more recently showed the elevation at the site has not changed, therefore there should be no major changes in the material composition, Cheung said.
There is currently no other site identified closer to San Clemente that would have better material and this was the only location authorized,…
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