Dredging begins for O.C. beaches sand replenishment project

Dredging began this week for the Surfside-Sunset project as trucks rolled out to Surfside and Sunset beaches on Monday.

The project, helmed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will deposit an estimated 1.2 million cubic yards of sand on a small stretch of beach south of the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, which is expected to travel down to replenish Huntington, Bolsa Chica and Newport beaches by way of ocean current. Newport Beach will receive an additional 100,000 cubic yards of accumulated sand from the far west Newport area to replenish the beaches between 52nd and 36th streets.

One of the pipes being used at Surfside to dredge an estimated 1.2 million cubic yards of sand to replenish Orange County beaches on Wednesday.

(Courtesy of John Kriss)

This will be the 13th stage of periodic sand replenishment, with the last stage completed in 2009. Stages were initially meant to be completed every five years.

Sand replenishment projects first began along Orange County’s coastline in 1964 after officials realized the construction of breakwaters and jetties impacted the amount of sediment meant to naturally restore the beaches by way of the river. About 1.8 million cubic yards of sand was supposed to be deposited every five years.

Advocates for the project noted that the 13th stage has less sand than is typical and does not make up for beach loss between 2009 and 2023.

Construction is currently expected to conclude by the end of February 2024.

Mounds of dredged sand sit ashore on Surfside Beach. This sand will be deposited on a small stretch of beach south of the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach.

(Courtesy of John Kriss)