NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- After the placement of 4,500 tons of stone and 150 cubic yards of concrete, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District marked the completion of repairs to the east jetty at Newport Bay Harbor, with the area reopening to the public Aug. 25.
Maintenance dredging of the harbor, part of the same project and which started alongside the jetty repairs in April, is scheduled for completion Sept. 10.
The jetty-repair portion of the project included concrete repair to the jetty itself and stone placement along the jetty walkway to raise the revetment height. The added stones serve to minimize the fall hazard and dissipate the force of the seawater, especially during rough conditions, swells and high tides.
“The intent of the jetty repair was to make it safer for the public, and it felt good to see the project completed so we could restore public access to the structure in this new-improved, safer form,” said Mark Golay, LA District Navigation Branch program manager.
In particular, the corner of the jetty had exposed rebar, and the existing stone was five feet below the jetty walkway, which presented a fall hazard. This project fixed both issues, Golay said.
The LA District worked closely during the project with the City of Newport Beach, the project’s nonfederal sponsor.
“This has been a really great effort, and the city is really happy,” said Chris Miller, public works manager with the City of Newport Beach. “It was a good, collaborative project. I think importing 8.5 million pounds of stone down a ramp and offloading without any complaints from the residents is a major accomplishment.”
The dredging portion of the project comprises two parts: dredging of the harbor’s entrance channel, which started May 24, and dredging of Balboa Reach, which contractors finished May 20. By the end of this project, dredging work will have deepened the seabed in both sections back to the authorized federal depth of -20 feet Mean Lower Low Water, or MLLW.
Maintenance dredging of federal channels is a responsibility of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to ensure the waterways remain safe and navigable. This requires the removal of about 60,000 cubic yards of sediment in each section, Golay said.
The contractor, Pacific Dredge and Construction LLC, is placing beach-quality dredged material from the entrance channel in the nearshore area along Balboa Beach to help renourish the peninsula beach, and it is transporting material from the main channel to LA-3, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-approved ocean disposal site, which is located 4.3 nautical miles southwest of the harbor’s entrance.