Troubled Sand-Bypass Project May Resume Soon in Oceanside

Construction on the beleaguered Oceanside sand-bypass project, an experimental system designed to help preserve the coast’s eroding beaches, may soon resume after months of delays.

Healy Tibbitts Construction, a San Francisco-based marine-projects company, is seeking to take over the project, Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Jared Miller said Tuesday from the Los Angeles district office of the corps.

“If everything goes smoothly, I think we can reach agreement in two weeks,” Jared Miller said.

A new project-completion schedule needs to be drafted and the builders must be able to secure construction bonds before a final agreement is reached, he said.

Confident About Company

“We have no problems with Healy Tibbitts,” Miller said. “We’re confident they can complete the project.”

The federally funded, $5.5-million job was suspended in April when the Corps of Engineers fired Maecon Inc. of Irvine, the original contractor, when it failed to get the system operating after three tries.

In theory, the project will use jet pumps to suck sand from Oceanside Municipal Harbor’s silt-clogged entrance channel and dump it on the beaches. In practice, however, the project has been beset by mechanical failures and logistical problems.

“This has been an adverse situation,” Miller said. “Right now, we’re grateful to get it started again,” Miller said of the project.

Though Healy Tibbitts has never built a sand-bypass system, Ernest Megginson, the company’s Southern California manager, is optimistic that it can handle the task. Once construction gets under way, Megginson said, the company hopes to have the system operational in four to six months.