UPDATE (March 31, 2023): Beginning April 1, the Corps and its contractor, Trade West Construction, will restore access to the beach north of Coos Bay North Jetty from sunrise Saturdays to sundown Sundays via Trans Pacific Lane and South Dike Road. This will allow for public day-use of the beach during weekends until jetty repairs are complete in December 2025.
COOS BAY, Ore. -- On Saturday, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Portland District (Corps) contractors will begin making repairs to the Coos Bay North Jetty. Engineers will close access roads to the North Spit marking the start of this three-year, $84 million critical infrastructure improvement project.
Coos Bay is Oregon’s largest deep-draft coastal harbor, and the jetties there reduce wave action in the bay, ensuring the safety of ships, recreational boaters, and commercial fisherman.
“The rehabilitation of the north jetty is a critical undertaking that will ensure the safety and reliability of the bay’s shipping channels for years to come,” said Capt. Marie A. Adams, project engineer. “The project includes reconstruction of the jetty head, repairs to critically damaged portions of the trunk and restoring the jetty root elevation to provide long-term erosion resilience.”
In the interest of public safety, the following sand roads will be off limits to traffic until construction is complete in December 2025 - South Dike Road, Foredune Road, and the Bayside Road starting approximately half a mile south of the end of Trans-Pacific Lane to the jetty. Additional areas may be closed including trails on the spit to prevent the public from crossing Foredune Road to access to the beach from the trail system.
“The Bureau of Land Management recognizes the inconvenience that these road closures may cause. We want to thank the public for their patience and understanding during this time,” said Matt Bailey, Umpqua Field Office Manager. “The safety of the public and workers is everyone’s top priority.”
The 10 miles of BLM-managed hiking and equestrian trails will remain open. However, visitors should be mindful of the ocean tides if travelling on the open section of the Bayside Road to avoid becoming stuck during high tides.
As an alternative, visitors can enjoy the beach nearby at Horsfall in the U.S. Forest Service's Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area also has multiple locations where off-highway vehicles can access sand dunes. The BLM's Bastendorff Beach and Oregon State Park's Sunset Bay State Park are great options for people wanting to spend time on the beach in nearby Charleston, Ore.
The Corps contractor, Trade West Construction, will immediately start the construction of staging areas and improving some sections of Foredune Road and Reroute Road. Early construction includes building an in-water temporary Material Offloading Facility (MOF) where most of the stones used in the jetty’s repair will be barged to.
Background: Original construction of the 9,600-foot-long North Jetty took place from 1891 through 1898. The Coos Bay Federal Navigation Project was authorized in 1878 and again in1996 as part of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act that year. These authorizations provide the Corps with the ability for construction, operation, and maintenance of the north and south jetty structures and associated deep-draft federal navigation channels and turning basins. The North Jetty has suffered damage from a harsh coastal wave environment and requires repair.
The North Jetty has lost a total of 1,121 feet from the jetty’s full authorized length since its construction. The Corps has repaired the jetty numerous times, and the height and width of the jetty increased to its present configuration. The jetty head (the tip of the jetty in the water) was last repaired in 1989 and the jetty trunk (at the beach) had emergency/interim repairs in both 2003 and 2008. Both repairs involved a breach or a near-breach of the jetty which allowed significant sediment through the jetty into the navigation channel and impacted the North Spit Ocean shoreline.
For more information, visit https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/Locations/Oregon-Coast/Coos-Bay/.
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