LTC Brickner visits Santa Cruz West Jetty Repairs Project

USACE’s San Francisco District Commander, LTC Virginia Brickner, met with commissioners from the Santa Cruz Port District as well as Port Director, Holland MacLaurie, earlier this week to tour the recently completed Santa Cruz West Jetty Repairs Project.

In just over two months, construction crews successfully installed 248 tons of locally-sourced stone and replaced the jetty’s concrete cap.

During the visit, LTC Brickner had the chance to walk the jetty and observe the port’s dredging operations.

The Santa Cruz East and West Jetties were built at the entrance of Santa Cruz Harbor to maintain a stabilized entrance channel.

According to USACE, this repair project focused solely on the West Jetty. Damage to this jetty was observed following extreme winter storm events across the region in December 2022 and January 2023.

Storm-induced damages included fracturing of the concrete cap, exposing core stone in the structural prism to wave energy and displacement and loss of existing armor stone along the seaward side. These damages impacted the structural integrity of the jetty and safe pedestrian access.