The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) board of directors recently authorized emergency actions to stabilize sections of railroad track in San Clemente, Calif., that are threatened by coastal erosion and landslides.
“This action enables OCTA to act quickly and decisively to protect our coastal rail line,” OCTA Chairman Doug Chaffee, who is also Orange County’s Fourth District Supervisor, said. “By advancing this emergency work, we are helping to preserve a critical transportation link for Southern California, the region and beyond.”
Work will address four areas of vulnerability where debris from recent landslides is near the top of a 12-foot-high temporary catchment wall.
The proposed work includes up to 540,000 cubic yards of sand to restore beaches and absorb wave energy, constructing a 1,200-foot shoreline protection structure near San Clemente State Beach, installing a 1,400-foot catchment wall and restoring a pedestrian trail at Mariposa Point,
and repairing approximately 9,000 tons of riprap to stabilize embankments and prevent bluff failure.
The project is expected to take up to eight months to complete. While work is performed, passenger rail will be shut down.
The California Coastal Commission issued a partial emergency Coastal Development Permit to stabilize the coastal rail corridor on April 10.