PHOTO: Pacific Dredge in Newport Beach

Pacific Dredge and Construction (PDC) recently completed a multi-faceted project in Newport Beach, California, improving the channel and east jetty.

The intent of the jetty repair was to make it safer for the public, and dredging activities were performed with the goal of bringing the water depth to an original and permitted elevation for vessels to transit safely while entering/exiting the harbor.

The jetty-repair portion of the project included demolition and disposal of the existing concrete pedestrian walkway collar, placement of new rebar and concrete collar. Additionally, stone placement along the jetty walkway occurred to raise the revetment height.

The dredging portion of the project was comprised of two parts: dredging of the harbor’s Entrance Channel and dredging of Balboa Reach.

To do this work PDC used the versatile PDC-180 crane barge, currently being configured as a duty-cycle barge for dredging and marine construction with dual capability as a project crane.. The Manitowoc 4600 Crane aboard performed the work with a clamshell bucket. The dredged material was loaded into the PDC 2001 and PDC 2002, twin 2000-yard dump scows.

The sediment dredged from Balboa Reach was transported to LA-3, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-approved Ocean disposal site, which is located 4.3 nautical miles southwest of the harbor’s entrance.

Pacific Dredge and Construction placed beach-quality dredged material from the Entrance Channel in the nearshore disposal area along Balboa Beach to help re-nourish the peninsula beach.