Sand replenishment for Newport Beach about to begin

A critical and long-awaited project to replenish beach sand along 12 miles of Orange County coastline – including Newport Beach’s – will begin on Monday, November 27. 

The project is being led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, whose contractors are now preparing for the work to begin.

Crews will dredge about 1.2 million cubic yards of sand about 2 miles off the coast of Surfside and Sunset beaches and deposit it on a stretch of beach south of the Seal Beach naval station.

Over the next few years, through natural wave and tidal flow, the sand will move south to replenish beaches at Huntington, Bolsa Chica and Newport.

As part of the project, the Army Corps will use 100,000 cubic yards of accumulated sand from the far West Newport area, near the Santa Ana River, to replenish beaches between 52nd and 36th streets.

The public is advised to use caution when crossing the truck corridor during the sand-moving operations, which are expected to take 4-6 weeks, said the City of Newport Beach.