Countywide : River-Widening Work Off Till Spring

Because of the advent of the rainy season, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has temporarily ceased work in Orange County on a project widening the bed of the Santa Ana River.

Dionicio Gonzales, assistant deputy district engineer for project management, told the City Council here Monday night that some construction work will continue during the winter on land outside the riverbed. But he said the major work, which is done on the riverbed itself, has been discontinued until April.

“All construction activity will be out of the channel for the winter,” Gonzales said.

In addition to widening and deepening the riverbed, the Corps’ flood-control project includes the building of concrete containing walls on both sides of the river.

The overall $1.4-billion project, which extends into Riverside and San Bernardino counties, will take about eight more years.

In Huntington Beach, the excavation work ran into trouble in the past few months because of complaints from residents about dust and truck traffic. Soil dredged from the riverbed has been carried by trucks to a landfill near Garfield Avenue and Golden West Street.

Councilwoman Grace Winchell told Gonzales on Monday night that she had received complaints from many residents about dust and unsafe traffic resulting from the dirt hauling.

Gonzales acknowledged that the Corps has had problems with some truckers who are subcontracted for the hauling work. “The Corps is still going to monitor them,” he said. “We’re going to insist that they wet the (dirt being hauled in the trucks).”

Later, in an interview, Gonzales said the Corps also found that some truckers were not driving safely through Huntington Beach.

“We had some people driving too fast, so the contractor just fired them,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales said work on the riverbed is progressing “extremely well.” He added: “We’re ahead of schedule in most areas.”

Work in the Huntington Beach-Fountain Valley area is expected to be completed by fall of next year, he said. The river-widening construction will then move northward into Santa Ana, Orange and Anaheim.