OCEANSIDE, California – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District awarded a $10.77 million contract to Manson Construction Company from Seattle, Washington, on March 13 to conduct maintenance dredging at Oceanside Harbor.
The lowest price technically acceptable firm fixed price contract includes a base year plus two option years. It calls for the removal of about 280,000 cubic yards of beach quality sand from the harbor’s entrance channel and its placement along Oceanside’s beaches.
The award served as an important backdrop for Col. Peter Helmlinger’s March 15 visit to meet with the city of Oceanside, the project’s sponsor. Helmlinger, commander of the Corps’ South Pacific Division, and Col. Kirk Gibbs, the Los Angeles District commander, met with Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood, along with Deanna Lorson, the assistant city manager, and Paul Lawrence, the Oceanside Harbor manager, to discuss issues that affected recent dredging at the harbor and how the upcoming contract will address them. The group took a boat tour of the harbor, getting a close-up view of the narrowing and shallow harbor entrance.
Jim Fields, the project manager, showed the colonels the placement site for the dredged material and discussed some of the challenges the contractor will face, including placing a pipeline across the San Luis Rey River which is now flowing.
Manson will start dredging the harbor in early April and expects to complete the project prior to Memorial Day.