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9/8/2025
The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) on Sept. 5 marked a milestone in its ongoing emergency effort to protect the coastal rail line with an initial sand installment on the shoreline in San Clemente, California.
More than 300 truckloads of sand from a Palm Springs quarry were slated to be delivered to the shoreline between the rail line and the Pacific Ocean over the next week along a quarter-mile span of beach. The sand is being placed along the beach as an immediate step to help reinforce the rail line while longer-term reinforcement work continues, according to an OCTA press release.
OCTA leaders emphasized that this first wave of sand is an important initial deposit on a much larger effort to place a total of up to 540,000 cubic yards of sand along the San Clemente coastline, pending sand sourcing and additional state and federal permitting approvals.
The work is part of OCTA’s efforts to protect the rail line through south Orange County, which is a vital link in Southern California’s rail network for passengers, freight and military assets. The sand nourishment is estimated to cost about $900,000.
Additional work near Mariposa Point is scheduled to begin later this month and will include restoration of San Clemente Pedestrian Beach Trail and construction of a nearly 1,400-foot-long catchment wall to protect the rail line from debris caused by sliding on the hill above. That work is scheduled to be completed in summer 2026, OCTA officials said.
Over the past four years, San Clemente’s eroding bluffs — on both city and private property — have repeatedly forced the closure of the rail line that has operated largely uninterrupted for more than 125 years.