Oceanside Harbor Inlet dredging underway

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is dredging the Oceanside Harbor inlet to ensure the safe navigation of vessels.

According to the City, the dredged sand is being deposited south of the Pier and the equipment will continually move south. The project is expected to be complete by Memorial Day weekend.

The average amount of sand dredged from the inlet and placed onto the beaches is usually between 200,000 and 300,000 cubic yards.

This year, USACE estimates about 500,000 of sand will be placed on Oceanside beaches, which is much more than usual due to the storms that have built up more material in the Harbor inlet.

Other sand replenishment and retention efforts are also underway in Oceanside. On May 1, the City named 15 local, state, and national experts to serve as a jury in the upcoming Coastal Resilience Design Competition.

The competition intends to generate innovative solutions for the retention of sand along Oceanside’s beloved coast, particularly south of the Pier where the impacts from rapid coastal erosion are felt most acutely.

The most successful designs will address sand retention, coastal erosion, habitat improvements, recreational and public use amenities, and coastal flood mitigation.

The Design Competition will take place over eight months, and the City will host three public workshops along the way to get input and further refine the team designs.

A winning design will be recommended by the jury and will be presented to the City Council for approval. Upon a passing vote, the project will move directly into final engineering and environmental compliance phases for construction.