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MOFFATT & NICHOL SEAL BEACH PROJECT WINS 2010 BEST RESTORED BEACH

LONG BEACH, CA, May 24, 2010—The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) announced today that the Seal Beach Nourishment Project is a winner of its 2010 Best Restored Beach Award. For this project, Moffatt & Nichol provided permit procurement, final engineering and construction support services.

The Seal Beach project involved nourishing a popular but eroding beach east of its pier using 74,000 cubic yards of offshore dredged material. This beach provides a resource to millions of people in a high-density population area on the border of Orange and Los Angeles counties. The Seal Beach project was funded by the City of Seal Beach at a total cost of $1,182,000. This investment in their coastal resource allows the City the flexibility to better manage the sand within their compartmentalized shoreline over time, improve the users’ experience, and enhance shorefront protection.

The widened beach offers improved storm wave protection to shorefront residences and has increased the recreational beachfront. The effort played a significant role in mitigating flood damage as a result of the recent El Nino pattern which saw high tide and wave run up at East Seal Beach.

For the Seal Beach project, a high level of cooperation between local, state and federal governments allowed an unconventional contracting process to succeed within a tight timeframe and budget. Dredging was conducted as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Stage 12 Surfside/Sunset project. As the State of California continues to aggressively promote beach nourishment projects, such cooperation between agencies may become a model for future efforts.

Moffatt & Nichol’s record of understanding and meeting permitting agency needs, coupled with the firm’s in depth knowledge of the Southern California coastline and expertise in coastal processes, familiarity of sediment types, ensured that high quality and compatible material was placed on the beach.