Some work remains in river dredge

Corps of Engineers says a levee needs aesthetic repairs, sand piles need flattening.SANTA ANA RIVER -- Though most of the work has been completed, more needs to be accomplished before a dredging project designed to prevent flooding can be considered a done deal.

Among the more significant unfinished projects are repairs to a river levee that was damaged during an October 2004 storm, and the flattening of sand piles that can be seen in the riverbed slightly north of the Adams Avenue bridge, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers resident engineer Ellie Encinas said.

Besides those needs, a lengthy stretch of the river was not dredged. Officials in the county’s Flood Control Division plan to review the results of the project but will likely agree with the Corps of Engineers’ judgment to leave that stretch of the river at its present depth, Flood Control Division project engineer Aram Eftekhari said.

“There are absolutely no safety concerns,” he said.

Monday, Encinas toured the river with about 10 others representing the Corps of Engineers, Orange County and CJW Construction, the Santa Ana-based firm hired to dredge the river. Officials gathered in Newport Beach near the river’s mouth to evaluate the project.

At the conclusion of the tour, Encinas said the Corps of Engineers wants CJW Construction to submit a plan to make a temporary repair to the damaged levee and to fix the asphalt bicycle trail that runs adjacent to the river. A chunk of the levee north of the river mouth was washed away during a storm last year. The hole was filled with large rocks and section of trail remains torn away. The Corps of Engineers may need to issue a new contract for a permanent fix.

The levee is probably stronger now than its initial state, Corps of Engineers civil engineer Joe Ryan said. The primary need of repairs would be to fix up the spot’s appearance. The boulders used to repair the levee give the site a jagged and rough-hewn look.

Dredging plans initially called for sediments to be dug along a 19,400-foot stretch of the river from its mouth to a point north of the Adams Avenue bridge, Ryan said. However, CJW was unable to dredge about 10,000 feet of the riverbed.

Last winter’s storms, which Corps of Engineers officials have blamed heavily for the project’s delays, were not the reason a lengthy stretch of river was not dredged. Ryan said CJW Construction could not dig sand from that portion of the river because Newport Beach residents objected to a plan to dispose of sand along the city’s beaches. Without a disposal site, the area could not be dredged.

Monday morning, sandy areas along the undredged stretch of the river could be seen emerging from ocean water that had flowed into the riverbed with the tide. Ryan said he does not believe the sediment creates any danger of flooding, and the river’s depth along that stretch is within acceptable flood control standards.

“We’re still in that safety factor,” Ryan said.

The Corps of Engineers is expected to turn responsibility for the river over to the county as soon as all follow up work to the dredging project is completed.20051123i9xagskfDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)Sam Lowry, left, and Ken Middleton, workers on the Santa Ana River dredging project, wait for sand to be removed while a ship with a dredging pipe attached floats offshore in January.