Long Beach speeds up $11.4 million Peninsula dredging after storm damage

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Sandy beach and boardwalk along Seaside Walk on the Long Beach Peninsula

Long Beach speeds up $11.4 million Peninsula dredging after storm damage

The city says the sand will act as a buffer against waves but will not stop waves from carrying sand away. Reports differ on how many homes are red-tagged.

By Alberto Zamudio | The Southbound 105 | Oct. 16, 2026

Long Beach is moving up a major sand-replenishment project on the Peninsula after a string of storms battered the shoreline and damaged homes along Seaside Walk.

The project

The city has brought forward an $11.4 million dredging and beach-replenishment project at the Alamitos Bay entrance channel, Baird Maritime reported Oct. 15. A contractor, Manson Construction, will use the cutter-suction dredger H.R. Morris, supported by the derrick barge DB Freya, to remove an estimated 415,000 cubic yards of sand from the channel, Baird reported. The sand will be pumped over the jetty and spread along the shoreline by bulldozers.

Staging began Oct. 14 at the 72nd Place beach parking lot. Dredging is expected to begin around Oct. 20, and Mayor Rex Richardson described the beach replenishment as a three-month operation, according to Baird and Patch. Patch reported that the work could widen the beach by about 200 feet.

The work also restores the channel to its authorized 20-foot depth. The city said the channel has not been dredged in more than 20 years, and the City Council approved a $9.27 million construction contract on Aug. 11, before the latest storm, Baird reported.

Storm damage and emergency repairs

The work follows what Baird described as the third major storm system to hit the Peninsula in six weeks, after Hurricane Marie and Polo, with the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel causing further flooding and erosion. The Long Beach Post reported on Oct. 9 that waves broke through a bulkhead along two blocks of oceanfront homes between 64th and 66th Places and that residents of nine properties were ordered to evacuate.

At that time, city inspectors red-tagged eight buildings covering 13 addresses on the 6400 and 6500 blocks of Seaside Walk and yellow-tagged another, the Post reported. Red tags mean a building is too dangerous to enter. The Post said the tags were preliminary and could be downgraded after repairs. Patch noted on Oct. 13 that subsequent reports had differed on how many buildings were affected. Baird's Oct. 15 report still cited eight buildings with 13 residences, and said a small number of homes remain under mandatory evacuation.

City crews are doing emergency repairs to the boardwalk and bulkhead during morning low tides between 64th and 66th Places, with evening work expected to start next week, Baird reported. The city estimates those repairs will cost between $1.5 million and $3.6 million, paid from its Tidelands Emergency Reserve. A separate $230,000 effort to move 50,000 to 100,000 cubic yards of sand onto the beach was set to begin Oct. 10, the Post reported.

What sand can and cannot do

The city cautioned that the dredged sand will provide a buffer against wave action and flooding but will not prevent waves from carrying sand away, according to Baird. Patch reported that City Manager Tom Modica outlined a seven-point protection plan that includes a low-profile rock revetment with dunes, estimated at $6.8 million, for which funding has not yet been secured.

An Oct. 1 opinion piece in the Beachcomber by resident Stewart Hayes urged the city to use coastal modeling to study how Peninsula erosion could affect Alamitos Bay. Hayes wrote that he was not claiming it would cause flooding elsewhere.

What's next

  • Around Oct. 20: dredging is expected to begin.
  • About three months: the expected length of the replenishment work, per the mayor.
  • Red-tag reviews: inspectors are re-checking damaged properties, and tags can change. The city urges residents to keep sandbags and sign up for Alert Long Beach notices, Patch reported.

Want more local news? Read more at The Southbound 105.

Cover photo: Sergei Gussev, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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