Caltrans to replace beach at Getty Villa with boulders but no sand Play

Caltrans has finally announced its emergency work to replace a historic, scenic beach opposite the Getty Villa Museum with boulders. But there is no sand coming to replace the beach that critics say was scoured away because a vertical concrete wall, built a decade ago, bounced waves sideways to scour away Ratner Beach.

Work will begin in earnest on Monday at 9am, when the right lane heading towards Santa Monica will be closed, starting at Topanga Canyon Blvd. and extending about 1/2 mile towards the signal at Coastline Drive, near the Getty Villa Museum.

That lane closure will be from 9am to 3pm, every week day, next week.

The state spokesman tells KBUU that the contractor has begun clearing the general work area. Notices have been posted at homeless encampments to clear out. The contractor is procuring giant rocks to truck in and drop where the beach used to be.

Caltrans plans to dig down, install a geosynthetic reinforcement, dump boulders and rock, and then repave. Work will start next to Mastro's beach club and extend down to the concrete wall that the state installed across from the Getty a decade ago.

More than a decade ago, some critics predicted that the Ratner Beach would be a goner if the state installed the vertical concrete wall at the Getty. It is not clear which state agency installed the vertical walls, which "protect" a parking lot and the highway.

As the critics predicted, the concrete wall bounces incoming waves sideways, scouring away what used to be the popular beach.

Textbook beachfront engineering failure.

The armoring of the coast will not include any sand replacement or sand groin construction.

Historical photos show wide beaches both upcoast and downcoast from the beach at Coastline Drive.

In 1945, a rock formation known as Castle Rock was dynamited to widen the coast highway.

In the 1940s, sand groins were installed along this section of coast , and they were successful in trapping sand as it washed down the coast. But those groins were made of metal and rusted away, and Ratner Beach's sand washed down to Santa Monica.

That left the scenic pullout at Castle Rock, across from the Getty turnoff, vulnerable to erosion. About 15 years ago a vertical wall was installed to build a view point and parking lot.

That wall can be seen bouncing waves up the coast to what used to be Ratner Beach.