Redondo Breakwater May Be Raised : Critics Call Barrier Too Low in Aftermath of Damage at King Harbor

The breakwaters at Redondo Beach’s King Harbor--criticized as too low in the aftermath of the storm this week that caused more than $16 million in damage--will likely be raised and extended, an Army Corps of Engineers official said Wednesday.

Col. Tadahiko Ono said in an interview that such a project--estimated to cost $7 million to $10 million--is recommended in a draft report to Congress that will not be publicly released until next month. The recommendations follow a study that the corps has conducted over the last few years and are based on hard-hitting storms in 1983, not the even fiercer storm that hit this week.

But in the wake of the recent storm, the recommendations may be revised to ask for even more improvements to the breakwaters and speed up the work.

“We’re hoping to begin construction, and in fact complete construction, before the winter season of . . . ‘89-’90,” said Ono, who oversees water resources projects and military construction for Southern California, Arizona, southern Nevada and southwestern Utah. Officials had said that such work could be completed no sooner than 1992.

Meanwhile, work has begun to repair the damage from the crippling combination of an Arctic storm, strong winds and high tides Sunday and Monday.

The Redondo Beach City Council allocated slightly more than $1 million Tuesday night for cleaning and some immediate repairs--all the money set aside over the last several years for just such an emergency, city officials said.

Yet that money will be far short of what is needed to restore King Harbor to the thriving business, recreational and tourist center it had become. The city officials’ $16-million-plus damage estimate includes more than $2 million to city property, $8 million to the Portofino Inn, and $1 million to the Blue Moon Saloon. The rest covers other private property, businesses and boats.

It does not include the $1 million to $3 million needed to repair the main breakwater.

But just repairing that breakwater will not satisfy frustrated city officials, business owners and boaters, many of whom have been pleading for years to get the barrier raised while warning that it might not withstand a severe storm.

Harbor Hit Hard

The test came Sunday and Monday as the roughest storm in recent memory warred with the California coastline, centering its damage on Redondo Beach’s mile-long King Harbor.

Waves, some more than 25 feet high, washed over the breakwater as if it wasn’t there. And when the storm subsided, some of it wasn’t. The ocean’s force knocked out huge boulders--some weighing several thousand pounds--and left at least seven gaping holes in the barrier, which is three-quarters of a mile long.

The northern portion of the breakwater is 22 feet high and the remainder is 14 feet. The city has been trying to get the federal government to raise the entire breakwater to 22 feet for at least 10 years.

Many people believe that a larger breakwater could have prevented much of the destruction, including the damage to the three-story Portofino Inn, which city officials estimate was 90% destroyed. Six rooms fell into the ocean.

About 25 other businesses were damaged, including three restaurants that officials said were almost complete losses. A 65-foot commercial fishing boat, the City of Redondo, broke from its mooring and sank. City officials estimate that 75 to 120 private boats were damaged as well.

Shortly after observing the damage by helicopter with Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) and city officials on Tuesday, Los Angeles County Supervisor Deane Dana said: “Obviously something has to be done about this breakwater. We couldn’t stimulate any interest in the Corps of Engineers in raising the breakwater after the 1983 storms, but I think this is going to do it.”

Congressional Action Needed

But while wrecking the breakwater took an act of nature, raising it will take an act of Congress.

Ono, the corps official, said the criticism does not surprise him and said he heard similar complaints after the 1983 storm. “I know people are upset, but there’s no such thing as instantaneous projects,” Ono said. “. . . If people could understand the normal process, they should be very happy with this.”

The draft report to Congress recommends that most of the main breakwater be raised to 22 feet, Ono said, and that the 14-foot-high jetty that extends from the pier area be extended. He said he could not recall how large an extension was recommended.

Of the report, Ono said: “In view of the damages we probably want to review it, but one thing we don’t want to do is slow” the proposed work. Possible modifications to the report may include recommending that some of the breakwater be raised to 26 feet, he said.

Congress already has authorized the project--subject to approval by the corps’ chief of engineers and Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors--but will not appropriate the money until it gets the report, probably in the fall, Ono said. He said approval should be no problem, and to expedite the work the corps will probably begin designing the project before all the approvals are granted.

He credited city officials and staff with moving the project along more quickly than usual.

A public meeting on the report will be held next month in Redondo Beach, he said, adding that the time and place have not yet been determined.

Stephen Fine, chief of coastal resources for the corps, said the county and some city officials have asked the corps to look at protecting the Redondo Beach Pier adjacent to King Harbor as well, possibly with a new breakwater or by stabilizing the pier’s pilings. The corps would first have to study whether the benefits would justify the cost of the project.

Emergency Repairs

Meanwhile, the corps has to repair the existing breakwater. Some emergency work was done Tuesday afternoon, and Ono said the rest of the barrier should be repaired to its pre-storm state within a month.

To help prevent further damage to the newly drawn shoreline and to the harbor’s boats and buildings, the corps brought in 3,000 tons of rock after Monday’s high tide subsided. By Tuesday afternoon, a temporary seawall had been built near the Portofino Inn at what is now the end of a parking lot--50 feet shorter than it was before the storm.

Meanwhile, city officials are focusing their efforts on assessing the damages to both public and private property in detail, trying to get Gov. George Deukmejian and President Reagan to declare King Harbor in a state of emergency and getting harbor businesses reopened.

The land and pier at King Harbor is owned by the city but leased to 18 master lessees who sublease the property or operate businesses there themselves.

“We’re going to try to get things back to normal as soon as possible,” said Jim Graham, a spokesman for the city’s Harbor Department.

The pier and most of the adjacent parking garages have been closed since 8:30 p.m. Sunday. Portions of the pier are expected to reopen today for limited operations. Until city crews repair the pier’s sewage lines--a top priority, according to officials--only retail businesses will be open and only during daylight hours.

The northern end of the pier--where walkways and railings fell into the ocean and where the severely damaged Cattlemens Steak House is located--has been fenced off and will be closed until the pier’s decks and the structure underneath are repaired. A popular fishing deck on the south side also has been barricaded.

Officials would not estimate how long that might take, except to say that Cattlemens will be closed for many months.

Casey said the city is trying to organize a program to put harbor employees who are out of work because of the storm damage in touch with potential employers. About 2,000 people work in King Harbor, according to council member Kay Horrell, whose district includes that area, but it was not known how many are out of work.

The City Council unanimously voted on Tuesday to waive competitive bidding requirements to contract for services and supplies for emergency repairs, which Graham said should enable the city to accomplish the work more quickly.

The council also declared a state of local emergency, confirming the city manager’s proclamation early Monday. Such a proclamation is necessary to be eligible for state and federal aid. City officials do not have details on how such aid would be allocated.

The council unanimously approved paying the towing fees of legally parked cars that were moved from the harbor for safety reasons before and during the storm. The city is looking for a place to set up a lost-and-found for the many items strewn about by the wind and water.

Casey said that among the other repairs the city will have to undertake eventually are:

Rebuilding any land that eroded beneath the harbor and the businesses there. The harbor master’s office is nearly an island now.

Restoring 50 feet of parking lot near Reuben’s restaurant and the Portofino Inn. Portofino Partners, the company that operates the inn, apartments and restaurant there, was recently given permission to build a restaurant there.

Cleaning sand and debris from some of the parking lots. The garages have already been cleaned.

Making minor repairs to Seaside Lagoon, a saltwater swimming pond that suffered some sand erosion and fence damage.

Repairing rock barriers along the harbor’s shoreline.

Repairing damaged public docks, quay walls and sidewalks around the harbor’s four marinas.

The county-owned bike path, which is attached to the city-owned pedestrian walkway, was covered with sand and water and will be cleaned by either the city or county, Casey said.

“I’m amazed,” Casey said, “at how much progress has already been made.”