Breakwater Damage Leaves Harbor Vulnerable to New Storm

The huge waves that battered the coast earlier this week also tore out a 180-foot section of the breakwater that protects Los Angeles Harbor, leaving the Port of Los Angeles and ships that use it exposed if another storm hits.

Officials from the Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for maintaining the breakwater, said they hope to repair it within the next few weeks. They had no estimate on the cost of the damage. The waves knocked 11 to 12 feet off the breakwater’s height, which is 14 feet above the mean low water line.

David Patterson, coastal engineer with the corps, said he is most concerned that, if another round of high waves hits, it could further damage the breakwater and widen the breach.

In addition, he said significant waves could “bounce around” ships at berth, make it difficult for them to maneuver in the harbor, and cause damage to the port’s bulkheads and docks.

“We want to get something up there and fill the hole before we have another storm condition,” Patterson said.

Port officials said the breach has not affected navigation, although port spokeswoman Julia Nagano said several ships were moved during the storm “for safety purposes.”

The missing section of the breakwater is slightly east of a bend in the stone wall, between the San Pedro fishing pier and the lighthouse that marks the entrance to the harbor at Angels Gate. It is adjacent to a section that was damaged during winter storms in 1983, Patterson said.

The breakwater is constructed in tiers out of massive stone blocks. On the harbor side the blocks--2 feet high by 6 feet wide by 8 feet long--are stacked in seven tiers. The ocean side has four tiers--made of blocks 3 1/2 feet high. The tiers--which sit above a mound of smaller stone--begin at the mean low water line.