LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Caltrans crews worked through the weekend to protect a large crack beneath Pacific Coast Highway near Laguna Beach as powerful king tides threatened to the stability of the coastal bluff.
The fracture, first discovered in early October near El Morro, measures approximately 360 feet long and 2 feet wide, according to Caltrans.
The agency secured $4 million in emergency funding last week to stabilize the hillside and protect the highway, though the final repair cost remains uncertain.
On Friday, video posted to Facebook by photographer Greg Viviani showed contractors and Caltrans crews transporting truckloads of sand down the steep bluff, filling protective barriers and working around incoming waves.
"They're bringing dump trucks full of sand, they're dumping it in the staging area, then they're transporting it down to the bottom and filling up these huge, massive sandbags," Viviani said.
Crews have a limited window of time to work.
"They have to load the heavy equipment in and out with a crane, so they have that big crane hanging over the edge of the cliff, and they only have a certain window of time to work before and after high tide," Viviani added. "There's only a limited amount of time that they're able to actually work."
Caltrans spokesperson Christianne Smith said coastal erosion and changing ocean conditions have complicated the emergency repairs.
"We're dealing with a perfect storm of conditions, including coastal erosion, changing ocean conditions like the Kelvin wave and the potential impacts of El Niño — so these factors all add to the challenges of protecting Coast Highway," Smith told Patch.
Commuters traveling along Pacific Coast Highway have noticed the full-lane closure on the roadway near El Morro, along with the massive crane and dozens of Caltrans workers at the site daily.
According to Smith, crews have been battling strong tides and the steep hillside daily to ensure Phase 1 of the $4 million repair project goes as planned.
As of Monday, Smith said Phase 1 of the plan, which included the plastic tarp barrier and sand barriers, had been completed.
During Phase 2, contractors will only be able to work during low tide to install a buttress at the bottom of the slope and fill it with rocks to slow wave energy and cliffside erosion.
"We're awaiting authorization from California State Parks and the California Coastal Commission to proceed with the next steps of Phase 2," Smith said.
The 360-foot-long crack has not widened as crews continue reinforcing the damaged hillside, according to Caltrans.
According to Caltrans, the plastic sheeting placed over the crack before the rain served its purpose in protecting the crack from the elements last weekend.
Additionally, Smith told Patch that Caltrans was seeing positive results from repositioning a protective sand barrier closer to the base of the crack in order to soak up some of the force from the powerful King Tides.
"They're continuing to build [the barriers] up at least three layers high," Smith said. "So that the protective barrier reaches around 12 feet."
While Phase 2 of the repair plan is expected to start within the week, Phase 3 is less certain.
"Caltrans is working closely with California State Parks to develop a long-term stabilization approach to ensure roadway protection by drawing on geotechnical data and lessons learned from similar emergency repairs," Caltrans said in a news release.
Smith told SFGATE that $4 million in emergency funding had been approved, but the project scope is still being assessed.
"As project plans are still evolving, the full cost of the project has not yet been established," Smith said.
A similar situation unfolded just a few years back, when storm and wildfire damage compromised the very same road over 300 miles north of Laguna Beach.
Landslides in Big Sur have infamously shut down Highway 1 for years at a time. Portions of the coastal highway teeter hundreds of feet above the rocky coast, and Caltrans officials deemed a 90-mile stretch of the road unsafe after a 2023 landslide was followed a year later by a cliff collapse that took out a lane near Rocky Creek Bridge.
Stabilization and repair work took years, hampering access to coastal tourist towns. Ultimately, Caltrans placed steel and concrete along the cliff to shore up the highway, allowing it to reopen in January of this year. The upcoming El Nino winter is expected to, once again, test the stability of the cliffside highway.
When the crack was originally spotted early October, Caltrans officials spurred into action, and one southbound lane of PCH was closed between El Morro Canyon and Irvine Cove.
Weeks later, the closure was expanded to include the entire southbound side of the highway.
While Caltrans is avoiding a full road closure, Smith said traffic will likely remain limited to the single northbound lane for the foreseeable future.
To monitor traffic and receive real-time updates regarding Pacific Coast Highway closures, residents can visit Caltrans's website.
A specific timeline for the ongoing project could not be given because of the likelihood of delays and the many factors involved in the project, Smith said.
"Forecasted high tides will delay our operations on the beach as the contractor cannot safely work when the beach is underwater," Smith said. "This is why their work schedule is based on tidal conditions."
This means that while contractors may be vigilantly working, the work will be limited to when the tide allows.
"At the moment the contractor is scheduled from noon to 10 p.m., but this will be adjusted according to changing tide levels," Smith said. "There will be no work during high tide levels on the beach."
Sign up for free local newsletters and alerts for the
Laguna Beach Patch
Patch.com is the nationwide leader in hyperlocal news.
Visit Patch.com to find your town today.