Project to Reinforce Breakwater at Ventura Harbor Nearly Done

Workers by Monday hope to wrap up a $1.2-million federal project to rebuild a large section of the Ventura Harbor breakwater toppled by high seas in January.

The worst damage is to a 100-foot area in the middle of the 1,750-foot-long breakwater, said Richard Parsons, dredging program manager for the Ventura Port District. An area at the south end is also damaged.

Although last winter was relatively mild, huge waves knocked off several “armor” stones weighing 12 to 22 tons each and sent them to the sea floor.

“We’ve known for a number of years that there was a weak spot,” Parsons said.

The money for reinforcing the breakwater, obtained with the help of Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), was originally earmarked for another repair project at the harbor entrance.

The funds were redirected because the reinforcement project was considered more critical, Parsons said.

Contractors under the guidance of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are using one of the largest marine cranes on the West Coast, mounted on a barge 255 feet long by 78 feet wide. The crane is capable of lifting 300 tons--equal to a pallet of 82 sport utility vehicles.

Steve Schryver, project manager for Connolly-Pacific Co., a Long Beach-based marine construction company, said crews of five workers at a time have been operating the crane 12 hours a day, seven days a week since the project started Aug. 3.

Workers were required to dismantle the entire section of breakwater, which rises about 18 feet above the water, and rebuild it from the floor up to correct the weaknesses, Parsons said.

“It is a very tedious project. You’ve got to handle those stones and move them individually,” Schryver said. “It is somewhat of a science and somewhat of an art.”

Aided by low swells, the project is running on schedule, Schryver said. The harbor remains open.

The breakwater was built in 1970 at a cost of $3 million, primarily to trap sand moving down the coast so that it doesn’t block the channel, Parsons said. The south end of the breakwater also shelters the harbor entrance.

Gaps between the rocks absorb energy from pounding waves, some as high as 22 feet, so that the breakwater can withstand storms.

The breakwater required no repairs during its first 15 years, Parsons said, but more extreme weather conditions have necessitated several restoration projects since the mid-1980s. About $1 million was spent to repair the north end of the breakwater for similar structural problems early in 2001.

“It will be in good shape after these repairs, and hopefully it won’t have to happen again in the near future,” Parsons said.