BEACON Goleta Beach Demonstration Project
Santa Barbara, CA
BEACON is a joint powers authority consisting of the Cities of Port Hueneme, Oxnard, Ventura, Carpinteria, and Santa Barbara, and the Counties of Ventura and Santa Barbara. The agency was established to seek solutions to replenish their eroding shorelines. BEACON’s state sponsored demonstration project plan consisted of dredging over 250,000 cubic yards of sand from an offshore borrow site to test the most economic means to nourish beaches in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. NCI performed a comprehensive geophysical and vibracore sampling field effort to locate the best source of beach quality sand. Responsibilities also included CEQA documentation, obtaining permits from regulatory agencies, and construction management of the dredging operations and beach nourishment work.
The project was funded by the California Coastal Conservancy. NCI negotiated a sole source dredging contract on behalf of BEACON to perform all work using cutter suction hydraulic dredge equipment. During the regulatory review phase the project description was modified to utilize alternative borrow source material. Beach quality sand trapped by Santa Barbara Harbor navigation improvements was selected as the approved borrow source. A hopper dredge operation was then designed to dredge and transport the sand from Santa Barbara to Goleta. The sand was pumped directly onshore using an offshore mooring buoy where it was final graded to specification using conventional earth moving equipment. The project was the first project of its kind in Santa Barbara County that involved beneficial reuse of harbor trapped sediment for beach replenishment.