Bringing Back the Sand to Alameda's Beaches

A nearly $5.7 million project to restore sandy beaches to Alameda's shoreline kicked off Tuesday morning with a short ceremony near Shoreline Drive and Grand Street.

Beyond the government officials and media representatives gathered on the beach were two distant attendees — the barges that will deliver 82,600 cubic yards of new sand, mixed with water, to the beach via a 9,000-foot-long pipeline.

The barges weren't much more than specks on the horizon. That's because the water is too shallow along Alameda's shore for them to move in closer, said Diane Althoff, chief of design and construction for the East Bay Regional Park District, which is handling the restoration project.

The sand itself comes from a commercial dredging operation near Angel Island, Althoff said.

The local origin should ensure that any microorganisms delivered to the beach along with the sand are ones already present in San Francisco Bay, she said.

The sand-water mixture is delivered into small ponds being created in increments along the shoreline as the work progresses. Once delivered, the sand will be "dewatered" and graded by bulldozers into the beach's final form — close to how it appeared in 1987 when the last sand replacement project was completed.

In the intervening years, that sand has been eroded mainly by wave action, with some help from the wind, Althoff said.

Park district officials said delivery of the sand via barge and pipeline was chosen to avoid heavy truck traffic through Alameda, especially in residential areas.

Crown Memorial Beach is an artificial beach, meaning there is no river, creek or other water source depositing sand to the site, park district spokeswoman Emily Hopkins said.

The last major sand replacement in the 1980s was projected to last for 20 years, she said.

During high tide some areas are only 24 inches wide but once the project is completed the beach will be 12 to 20 feet, she said.

Crews will work on the project in sections on the beach starting at Shoreline Drive between Willow and Grand streets, Hopkins said. The restoration will take place on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through the end of the November, Hopkins said.

Areas of the beach will be opened for the public, she said. The sand will cover between 8,000 to 9,000 yards of the beach, Hopkins said.

Bay City News Service contributed to this article.

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