Posted on April 7, 2019
Manson Construction awarded new four-year contract
Manson Construction has been awarded a new four-year contract to dredge the entrance of the Oceanside harbor and place the sand on the city’s beaches.
“Manson … anticipates mobilizing its equipment to the site around April 22 and starting work a week or so later, depending on conditions,” Oceanside Public Works Director Kiel Koger said by email Wednesday.
Measurements at the harbor entrance indicate the company will be able to remove as much as 300,000 cubic yards of sand, Koger said. The goal is to complete the work by the Memorial Day weekend, so the pipes and equipment will be off the beach before the summer tourist season starts.
Most years the contractor removes 250,000 cubic yards or more of material in a few weeks, at a cost of about $3.5 million paid by the federal government. The sand is pumped from the harbor onto Oceanside beaches as far as the city pier and sometimes south of the pier, if there’s enough sand.
“We expect the work to be routine this year, as Manson has done a good job in the past,” Koger said.
Last year, the harbor missed its spring cleaning because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to get the required local water quality permit in time.
As a result, tides, high surf and the southbound ocean currents steadily pushed sand in the harbor entrance to hazardously high levels, at times over the summer preventing boats from leaving or entering the man-made harbor built in the 1960s. The federally authorized depth is 20 feet, but without regular maintenance the channel can shrink to half that amount.
Permits were obtained for an emergency dredging completed last fall to keep the harbor safe.
Failure to dredge regularly also leads to bare beaches in Oceanside, where tourism is a big part of the local economy.
“The placement of the material is economically beneficial, enhances the city’s recreational assets and increases protection for oceanfront homes and businesses that are susceptible to impact from storms,” said Dena M. O’Dell at the Corps of Engineers office in Los Angeles in an announcement of the new contract.
While the Corps of Engineers pays for the basic dredging contract, some years the city and the Department of the Navy contribute additional money to extend the contract and get more sand. In 2017, the company removed about 440,000 cubic yards of sand used for beach replenishment.
City staffers plan to present an agreement to the Oceanside City Council at its April 24 meeting that, if approved, would pay for additional dredging this year if enough sand is available, Koger said.
“We are still working on specifics of the agreement,” he said Wednesday.
The success of the project always depends on weather, equipment and other factors.
In 2016, the Corps hired a new contractor that used a smaller dredge, which slowed the job because it could carry less sand. Also that year, the work started in June, months late because of trouble getting permits. The project had repeated mechanical problems, took five months to finish, and moved less than 240,000 cubic yards of sediment. The next year the contract went back to Manson.
The Oceanside harbor is one of four annual dredging projects conducted by the Los Angeles district of the Corps of Engineers.
Source: sandiegouniontribune.com
