The Examiner/Peninsula/Christa Bigue, 5/27/14. Half Moon Bay, San Mateo County partner up to protect Surfer's Beach bluffs."
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| Low tide |
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| High tide |
After a City Council meeting May 6, Half Moon Bay officials agreed to contribute $100,000 for the project, which calls for the construction of a retaining wall to protect the Pacific Coast Highway embankment and a stairway to connect the paved coastal trail to Surfer's Beach. County officials will match that amount in addition to a $200,000 allocation from the 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill settlement, Supervisor Don Horsley said. The total cost of the design and preliminary engineering work is about $400,000. "We have an agreement that the county will contribute $300,000 to the project and Half Moon Bay will contribute $100,000 for the environmental review and design," Horsley said.
Caltrans will pay for and oversee the design work, and the California Coastal Commission will also contribute $15,000 to make improvements to the nearby coastal trail, Horsley added. The potential project is a "revetment," said Horsley, a 400-foot-long segment of the coastline that will be supported with sloped sheet pilings anchored with riprap, rock used to armor shorelines against erosion and to absorb the force of incoming water." Read more.
Related - Midcoast Community Council. "Highway protection at Surfers' Beach San Mateo County, Caltrans, and Half Moon Bay are collaborating on the design and preliminary engineering for a project which would include the following components: --150-ft-long retaining wall to support the existing embankment. --Rock slope protection along the ocean side of the wall to provide energy dissipation and protection from undermining. --Reconstruction of the paved coastal trail adjacent to the wall. --Staircase to connect the coastal trail to the beach. Supervisor Horsley asked Caltrans to take emergency action to protect the highway in fall 2013. Caltrans reply."
Related Fix Pacifica reprint - Half Moon Bay Review/Mark Noack, 9/27/13,"Erosion danger spurs call to protect highway."
Note photographs, low tide from Midcoast Community Council; high tide by Matt Hansen from Peninsula Press, 2/20/14.
Posted by Kathy Meeh
4 comments:
LOL - a boondoggle that will do nothing to save the beach (rip-rap is not a beach) and reflect the ocean's energy further south to erode the beach there. Anyone who wants to preserve the beaches should be against this. The problem is the harbor seawall and that's all there is to it.
I don't think they're worried about saving the beach. I think they're worried about saving Highway 1.
"San Mateo County and the city of Half Moon Bay announced a partnership this month that will provide funds to shore up the seaside bluffs and create a safer passage from state Highway 1 down to the beach known for being a popular surf spot for locals and visitors alike."
... a safer passage down to the beach. Ha! there won't be a beach, just rocks. Dude, my board just got dinged...gnarly bro!
Don Horsley did say that this would be a "temporary fix" that might last a few decades. Eventually, the ocean will prevail and Hwy 1 will need to be moved further inland. I agree with 1049 that the erosion was hastened by the breakwater redirecting energy further down the beach. In the mid 60's, there was ample parking WEST of Hwy 1 overlooking Surfer's Beach. Another 45 years and beachfront parking might be on Obispo Road by the fire station.
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