A section of the Santa Cruz wharf that collapsed into the Pacific Ocean is seen at a nearby beach amid heavy surf in Santa Cruz on Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Construction work likely contributed to the partial collapse of the Santa Cruz wharf as strong waves pounded the coast early this week, city officials said.
After the second consecutive year of damaging swells sent a 150-foot section of the end of the wharf tumbling into the ocean on Monday, it’s not clear whether it will be rebuilt, especially as climate change fuels more powerful waves.
The construction work was being done to repair damage from last year’s winter storm swells, which closed that section of the wharf. It included tearing down a restaurant and removing part of the roadway to access and replace pilings that were damaged or missing, which reduced the weight holding down the end of the wharf.
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“The buildings and the roadway are sufficient weight to push down on the wharf and on the pilings to keep it in place,” Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley told KQED on Thursday. “Then this large front came in with these very large waves, and picked up the front of the wharf and tore it off.”
The work had to be completed between September and March — rendering the wharf more vulnerable during winter months when big storm surges are more likely — due to requirements from the California Coastal Commission related to nesting birds. City officials said the construction work was on schedule.
The waves that brought down the end of the pier were nearly 19 feet tall. Three workers, a public restroom, and heavy equipment crashed into the ocean. None of the workers, who were assessing the section’s structural stability when it collapsed, were seriously injured.
Tony Elliot, director of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation, called Monday’s waves “the largest swell that we’ve seen in 30 years.” He said “the totality of the construction work,” along with the large waves and last year’s damage, all contributed to the collapse.
“All of the components really need to be in place for it to be as structurally sound as possible,” Elliot said.
The repair work included replacing 70 pilings at the end of the wharf, and workers had completed about 20 or 30, he said.
At a Friday press conference, city officials pointed to a lawsuit from several residents under the name Don’t Morph the Wharf, saying it led to yearslong delays for parts of the Wharf Master Plan that could have strengthened the structure against storms and high surf.
“We have projects that have been ready to go that could have prevented this,” City Manager Matt Huffaker said, referring to city plans from 2015 to expand, renovate and reinforce the wharf.
“From my point of view, delay is disaster,” Keeley said about the lawsuit. A spokesperson for the group did not respond to a request for comment.
City officials said Friday they are confident the remainder of the wharf is structurally sound, but an assessment is underway and expected to be completed within several days. The wharf remains closed in the meantime.
Heavy machinery including a crane and a skid steer loader were lost, and need to be recovered from the sea floor before the wharf can be reopened, Huffaker said. If another large swell comes in, the waves could smash the machines into the wharf’s pilings, he said.
Meanwhile, several beaches are closed and residents are advised to avoid the water as the huge pilings, weighing hundreds of pounds apiece, and other large debris drift in the ocean. The public restroom that was on the end of the pier floated about a half mile south and settled at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River. Debris has washed up on beaches 10 miles south of the wharf.
While business owners and residents are eager for a reopening timeline, city officials have said they are focused on the immediate next steps. The city is working with business owners to potentially reduce or waive rent until the wharf reopens, which officials hope is a matter of weeks, not months, Huffaker said.
The Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf on a windy day in September 2024. (Nik Altenberg/KQED)
An uncertain future
In the longer term, the historic pier’s future has been thrown into question. The mayor and others have questioned whether the more than 100-year-old wharf is fit to survive a changing climate with stronger ocean swells.
“What we experienced in the last couple of days — this is what we need to plan for. This was not what was planned for when the wharf was built,” Keeley said. “I personally wonder how many times the federal government or any other entity is going to pay to repair and replace this very, very old technology.”
At the press conference, Keeley said it may not make sense to rebuild the part of the wharf that collapsed.
He said he is open to the idea of rethinking the entire structure with climate change top of mind, rather than trying to preserve the wharf in its original form. Unless reimagined, Keeley said, “I don’t believe this wharf can be there for another 100 years.”
Gary Griggs, an ocean scientist and distinguished professor of Earth sciences at UC Santa Cruz, said he agreed. When building or rebuilding structures that are buffeted by the ocean, it is important to remember there is nothing that will last forever, he said.
“I think the question is, what time frame should we be considering?” Griggs said, noting the significant investment of public money often required to rebuild. “Should we plan for doing this if we know it’s only going to last 10 years?”
Any repairs, upgrades or redesigned structures are “a Band-Aid, and it’s the strength or the size of that Band-Aid that determines how much future wave action, sea level rise, that can withstand,” Griggs said. In the long run, “there’s absolutely nothing we can do to hold back the Pacific Ocean.”
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