Work on Redondo Breakwater Funded in Reagan Budget

Plans to strengthen King Harbor in Redondo Beach against the kind of storms that battered it last year moved a step forward this week when President Reagan allocated $120,000 in his final budget to complete engineering and design work on the harbor’s breakwater.

Another $600,000 was appropriated in past budgets for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ work on the project.

Harbor Director Sheila Schoettger said construction will cost another $5.9 million and should be completed by the Corps of Engineers in early 1991. The federal government is expected to pay 65% of that cost, and the city has applied for a loan from the state Department of Boating and Waterways to cover its 35% share, she said.

Storms last year, particularly in January and April, caused severe damage in the harbor and weakened the breakwater, which proved unable to ward off heavy assaults from the sea.

Repairs Ease Fears

The Corps of Engineers made extensive emergency repairs that included raising the height of some portions of the breakwater. That work eased fears about this winter, Schoettger said.

To further improve the barrier, the Corps of Engineers proposes raising the south end of the long, winding north breakwater by 5 or 6 feet to bring it up to the 20-foot-plus height of the rest of the barrier. The south breakwater, which extends from the Redondo Pier area, would be doubled in length to 600 feet to better intercept waves near the harbor entrance.

Schoettger said the engineers expect to start testing the new design next month in Vicksburg, Miss., where the Army has scale models of ocean ports and waterways including King Harbor. Storms and other weather conditions are simulated there to test designs.

Reagan’s fiscal 1990 budget, released this week, also includes money for preliminary work on a Santa Monica breakwater and for a continuing study of the effects of storms and tidal waves on the California coast.