By Shawn Raymundo
Following a landslide along the San Clemente Beach Trail last month, part of the boardwalk portion will remain closed for some time as the city considers whether to fast-track an existing plan to replace the entire bridge structure.
Assistant City Manager Erik Sund explained that the city knows it has to replace the damaged portion of the boardwalk after its structural integrity was weakened because of a landslide that occurred on Nov. 16.
Currently, the city is already slated to replace the entire bridge, but not until the 2020-2021 fiscal year. However, after the latest development, Sund said, the city is looking at possibly moving the capital improvement project up by a year.
Rather than waiting till the following fiscal year, “maybe bringing that forward into this fiscal year and replace the bridge in its entirety,” Sund said. “But it’ll be many months before we get to that point, and we’re working with bridge folks to better understand it.”
If the city decides on recommending that the project be moved up, it will need to go through city council approval first. Sund also noted that the city is currently in the due-diligence phase with the pricing of the project.
Because the boardwalk is made out of metal and therefore susceptible to corrosion from the sea salt, the city, he added, is looking at alternative materials that wouldn’t require as much maintenance.
Shawn Raymundo
Shawn Raymundo is the city editor for the San Clemente Times. He graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s degree in Global Studies. Before joining Picket Fence Media, he worked as the government accountability reporter for the Pacific Daily News in the U.S. territory of Guam. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnzyTsunami and follow San Clemente Times @SCTimesNews.
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