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Coastal Rail Emergency Projects

Frequently Asked Questions

General

As a part of Coastal Rail Resiliency Study, OCTA completed an Initial Assessment in January 2024 that identified four areas – called Reinforcement Areas – that require immediate action to ensure safe and uninterrupted rail operations through San Clemente because of unstable slopes and beach erosion.

Safety comes first. We are addressing urgent threats from slope and beach erosion to protect the community, rail passengers and overall rail operations. These repairs are essential to keeping everyone safe and trains running smoothly.

A series of new landslides near Mariposa Point have occurred over the past year and debris and mud are nearing the top of the 12-foot-high temporary catchment wall constructed a year ago when a slope failure forced rail service to shut down. Emergency action is necessary to prevent additional disruption of rail service and to ensure passenger and public safety. In addition, continued erosion requires quick action to repair and replace existing riprap, install engineered solutions, and deliver enough sand to help protect the tracks.

OCTA is taking the following actions and implementing a comprehensive approach to protecting the rail line. These actions include:

  • OCTA issued an emergency request for information for contractors to provide dredging and transport options to expedite the sand placement component of the projects. OCTA expects to place approximately 540,000 cubic yards of sand.
  • On April 14, the OCTA Board authorized the CEO to enter into emergency contracting agreements to expedite work on the four Coastal Rail Stabilization Priority Projects. The board action allows OCTA to:
    • Issue an emergency design-build procurement to include construction of a catchment wall along Mariposa Point, restoration of the pedestrian trail, and to build a revetment, seawall or functionally equivalent structure south of San Clemente State Beach.
    • Direct Metrolink to repair and replace existing riprap, limiting the amount to only what’s necessary to protect the track, estimated at 6,500 cubic yards.

The emergency projects address imminent threats to railroad operations at four reinforcement areas that were identified as top priority. The Coastal Rail Resiliency Study will develop options to protect the full seven miles of coastal rail infrastructure and will be implemented in the short- and medium-term (10-30 years) to protect the railroad in its current alignment.

Coastal erosion in San Clemente is caused by a lack of sand supply and slope failure. The erosion has become an all-too-familiar story in recent years along Southern California’s coast, with shrinking beaches bringing nearby infrastructure – homes, roads, trails, railways, utilities – much closer to the ocean tides. San Clemente could see 1.6-3.8 feet of erosion by as early as 2070, according to the Sea Level Rise report, prepared by the City of San Clemente in 2019.

Funding

OCTA has been awarded $305 million for the projects through state and federal grants. The funding includes:

  • California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) awarded $125 million to OCTA through the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP)
  • Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) awarded $100 million in funding from its Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program.
  • California Transportation Commission awarded OCTA $80 million from the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program (TCEP)

Schedule

Each project activity occurs on a different timeline based on its complexity, and availability of contractors and material. Impacts to rail service and beach access will be communicated with the public when schedules of specific activities are finalized.

Riprap repair in Areas 1 and 2 began in mid-April and was completed in early June. The construction schedule to build the catchment wall and restore the pedestrian trail in Area 3 and build engineered revetment in Area 4 is still being determined.

Regarding the sand placement aspect of the project, OCTA needs to determine a suitable source for sand to be placed on the beaches in San Clemente. The source site sand needs to be tested and evaluated for suitability with the placement site. Design for the sand nourishment is also being advanced in order to procure a contractor with hopper-dredge equipment. Timing for this project component will become clearer when submissions are received in response to OCTA’s request for information.

Securing this permit does not relieve OCTA of its responsibility for environmental mitigations but it enables OCTA to expedite the design and construction processes. With the emergency process, it’s estimated the projects could be delivered one to two years sooner than the standard permit process would allow.

Construction

The Project aims to restore existing degraded riprap protection to the tracks from ongoing wave damage and beach erosion that has resulted in overall riprap loss from the standard design section, over-steepened slopes, unstable stones, exposure of the rail embankment to wave action, and overall degradation in protective capacity to the rail embankment in San Clemente. In addition, approximately 240,000 cubic yards of sand will be placed in total in Areas 1 & 2.

The work area was also extended to the areas between Project Areas 1 and 2 (referred to as Area 1a) to safely and effectively protect the entire rail line through that segment. The modification approved by the California Coastal Commission added a 530-foot-long segment of riprap slope repair and reinforcement.

Exhitit Areas 1 and 2

The Project will construct a catchment wall, sized to capture and retain any potential debris and soil that may dislodge from the hillside due to additional movement. Additionally, the proposed catchment wall will protect the existing railroad tracks within the entire Area 3 while reconstructing the pedestrian trail that was destroyed in the previous landslide. The proposed improvements are not intended to stabilize the slope but rather protect the railroad right-of-way from future hillside movement.

The purpose of the emergency action at Area 4 is to reinforce the railroad’s failing embankment with engineered shore protection structures and make repairs to existing riprap to avoid rail service disruptions and infrastructure damage that would lead to unsafe conditions. This work includes the necessary repair on the seaward side of the existing riprap embankment and construction of a new engineered shore protection structure (i.e., revetment, seawall, or a functionally equivalent structure) to stabilize the railroad infrastructure that is currently threatened by erosion of the beach and fronting sand embankment, and placement of up to approximately 300,000 cubic yards of sand based on initial study estimates.

In total, OCTA estimates 95% of the material placed will be sand and 5% will be riprap placement. OCTA is implementing an integrated approach to address the protection of the coastal rail line, and sand plays a key part of that. Because of the rapid erosion and immediate threat to the rail line, riprap and revetment are necessary to provide immediate protection to the public rail infrastructure. Sand experiences seasonal variation and will move laterally along the coastline by longshore drift, and therefore the other solutions are required to serve as the last line of defense for the railroad.

Depending upon the existing conditions, it’s expected that the approximately 540,000 cubic yards of sand will equal approximately a 50- to 80-foot-wide dry beach. The beach width is an estimate and will vary based on location, tides, seasonality and retention. The sand placement will be split, with 240,000 cubic yards placed in the area of Mariposa Point toward North Beach, and 300,000 cubic yards placed south of San Clemente State Beach.

Approximately 5,900 tons of rock repair was strategically placed in Areas 1 and 2. And, near San Clemente State Beach, it is estimated that 1,400 cubic yards of rock repair is needed at Area 4 as well as 22,000 cubic yards of engineered rock revetment or an equivalent shore protection structure will be placed.

All riprap placement will mostly be within OCTA’s existing railroad right-of-way. The work in Area 1 and 2 repaired the existing riprap section and maintained the original embankment shape within the railroad right-of-way and not extend further into the beach than today. Both areas will also include additional sand nourishment, which will increase the width of the beach through the Project areas.

The Project for Area 4 includes both riprap repair and proposed engineered structure sections in areas where existing riprap does not exist, and where extensive erosion has been observed along the track embankment. The engineered section will be built mostly within the existing railroad right-of-way. In addition, sand nourishment will be included in Area 4, which will increase the width of the beach through the project area.

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