By South OB Girl
Love this photo. Editor Dude ran it in this article the other day.
Sea wall building in action — and an example of what most (but for some reason not all) coastal property owners are required to do. Adding up to at least six figures or even millions of dollars paid by the property owner. A man-made structure designed to look like a natural cliff. Inside is the structure and engineering of a small sky scraper. Rebar and concrete designed with erosion in mind, to be sturdy enough for the power of the sea.
Also love this photo — because I am pretty sure that is Bermuda Beach.
And the rock near the bulldozer is gone now.
The rock is gone now because of erosion, not because of the bulldozer. And that rock is how people used to be able to more easily and more safely get up and down to the beach. What a difference a few years makes — that rock is gone now.
And the City stairs at Bermuda Beach are gone now too (as most OBceans know now).
It’s been a hot and sticky July. And conditions getting down to Bermuda are so dangerous it can deter some beach goers from going. A huge thank you to San Diego lifeguards — who I have seen patrolling the waters regularly by boat, close to shore. Patrolling from the pier to the cliffs. Bravo.
I miss that rock. And I miss the stairs.
And all the rocks on the beach, if you watch them over the years, get smaller and smaller, and disappear. For those who have been in town long enough to know and explore the rocks — they know the rocks and know the ones that are gone now. That is how the world turns, and the ocean is an almighty force that cannot be beat.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
When I lived on Pescadero AVE – not the street, we used to use the Bermuda stairs all the time. Then the duplex I lived in disappeared into the ocean one fine night – and I knew then that no matter how stable things looked it was only a question of time. Like the missing duplex, almost none of the rocks are still there – whittled down to fine sand along the shore. Miss those days.
Thank you for your story Judi!
And Judi is just that kind of long time local who knows the rocks… And has watched them whittle down and disappear.
The original wall was built many years ago I don’t remember when but before my time on earth. It collapsed in 1999 at that point another was proposed and partly designed but the owner stopped the project because of conditions the city was putting on it. A paper street exists in front of those properties and actually goes through one of the houses.
The project was resurrected in 2011 or there bouts and completed. At that time I had no involvement with it but I was surprised that the city didn’t try to get stair improvements included.
We all know this wall is just temporary until the ocean decides to remove it as it will. It is a good looking wall certainly better than some others we have seen.
Thanks Stu.