Berm Created to Ward Off Weekend Tides

Heavy equipment swarming over the Seal Beach shoreline this week has been working to amass a sand berm against high tides expected through the weekend.

City Manager Jerry L. Bankston said city officials decided to take action earlier this week when high tides sent water spilling over the existing berm.

Although there were no major problems Monday evening, when the tide reached 5.3 feet, water running over the berm in a few locations did give city officials some concern.

“Looking at the tide report, we were expecting 5.8- and 5.9-foot tides this weekend, and the preliminary weather report predicted a possible storm front,” Bankston said.

The sand berm is put in place in Seal Beach each year between October and April or May to handle high waves that come in toward the east side of the pier, particularly during high tides and storms. It extends from the pier east to the mouth of Anaheim Bay, and is supposed to be 3 feet wide at the top. Foot traffic had narrowed it to a foot in some locations, Bankston said.

Two large sand-scrapers, machines with paddle wheels that scoop sand into buckets and move it, and two Caterpillars, which move smaller amounts of sand, have been at work off and on since Tuesday night. The cost for the sand-moving operation is about $8,000, Bankston said.

“We weren’t considering this a red alert or emergency situation,” he said. “But we did feel it warranted taking an extra precaution.”

But Steve Burback, a forecaster for WeatherData, a weather service that provides forecasts for The Times, said a storm that is expected to sweep through California could push as far south as Orange County, creating “a slight chance” of rain late Saturday or early Sunday.

Temperatures today are expected to be in the upper 60s along the coast and the lower 80s inland, with some cooling on Saturday and Sunday.

High tide Saturday is expected to reach 5.8 feet at 7:30 a.m. and on Sunday is forecast for 5.9 feet at 8:03 a.m., Burback said.

Officials at Laguna, Newport and Huntington beaches said there has been no sand buildup there in anticipation of weekend tides.

“If we have 7-foot tides and we get large storms with winds, then we would do sand buildup, said Jim Turner, a Newport Beach lifeguard. “But our beaches in most of the communities are pretty well protected for anything under 7 feet.”