In construction we have names for rocks of different sizes: pea gravel, 1” rock, 4” minus, 12”minus, and up to A-16 . The name A-4 designates anchor stone where each boulder weighs from one to six tons. An elephant can weigh from 2-7 tons, so think of A-4 as elephant sized rock! Pacific Dredge and Construction just delivered hundreds of these elephant-sized rocks to Newport Beach.
This was a multi-faceted project in Newport Beach, California improving the channel and east jetty. By job’s end the jetty was 5 feet taller and better suited to handle future storms.
You don’t just toss an elephant. Each stone was lifted individually with a crane. Then PDC crew guided the rock to a precise location. The stone was brought to the project site by truck from Corona in Riverside County, CA.
The goal of repairing the East Jetty was to make it safer for the general public while repairing the edge of the boardwalk, and dredging activities were carried out to make the Entrance Channel deeper for vessels to transit safely while entering/exiting the harbor. You can’t see the effects of dredging as it is underwater. Thankfully we can see our other hard work. That massive pile of stone? That was us. At PDC we are ready to do it again.
