Newport Beach Breaks Ground on $5.5-Million Trash Interceptor for Newport Harbor
By Newport Indy Staff – September 15, 2023
Source: Newport Beach Independent – https://www.newportbeachindy.com/newport-beach-breaks-ground-on-5-5-million-trash-interceptor-for-newport-harbor/
Newport Beach City Council members, joined by state and county elected representatives, held a ceremonial groundbreaking event on Friday, Sept. 15 to kick off construction of the Newport Bay Trash Interceptor, a sustainably powered system to collect floating trash before it enters the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve, Newport Harbor and beaches.
The $5.5 million system will be built in the San Diego Creek, about 800 feet upstream from the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve. It is expected to capture 80 percent of the floating trash and debris from the San Diego Creek. Depending on the amount of rainfall, between 100 and 500 tons of trash reaches the Upper Newport Bay via San Diego Creek every year.
In July, the Council awarded the $3.9 million construction contract to Brea-based Jilk Heavy Construction, Inc. The system is expected to be operational by December 2024.
The solar-powered, debris-gathering water wheel in Baltimore, the same concept that is proposed for Newport Bay. — Photo courtesy of Billy Dutton/Baltimore waterfront ©
The Trash Interceptor, modeled after a similar project in the Baltimore Harbor, will sit on a floating platform that rises and falls with the tide. The platform will be secured to the creek bottom by guide piles. The platform will hold a 14-foot wheel that spins using power from the river current or solar panels to move a conveyor belt.
Trash floating downriver is then collected in four steps:
- A boom system directs floating trash toward the Interceptor.
- A spinning rake moves trash from the boom area to the conveyor belt.
- Trash is deposited from the conveyor belt into a collection container.
- When full, the container is moved by a short rail system to be transferred to a standard trash truck.
The Trash Interceptor will supplement other City trash-reduction efforts already in place, such as trash booms, catch basin collection systems and floating skimmers.
Project partners recognized at the event included:
- State Senate District 37 Rep. Dave Min
- State Senate District 36 Rep. Janet Nguyen
- State Assemblymember (District 72) Diane Dixon
- Orange County Board of Supervisors District 5 Supervisor Katrina Foley
- State of California Dept. of Water Resources
- Ocean Protection Council
- Orange County Transportation Authority
- Help your Harbor/Surfrider Foundation
- CR&R Environmental Services
Source: Newport Beach Independent https://www.newportbeachindy.com/newport-beach-breaks-ground-on-5-5-million-trash-interceptor-for-newport-harbor/
If you’re out and about on Newport Harbor on Sunday afternoon, July 16, you may see dozens of sailboats racing around the harbor. Give them plenty of room and cheer them on—it’s the 87th Annual Flight of Newport Beach, presented by the Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce with assistance from the Balboa Yacht Club.
Whether you have a beautiful luxury yacht or a luxurious Duffy boat, it’s time to decorate your watercraft and participate in the annual Old Glory Boat Parade on Thursday, July 4, beginning at 1 p.m.
This is part of the three-day American Legion Newport Harbor Post 291 Centennial event, celebrating its 100th anniversary.
When the question was asked as to when and where the first beer can race was held, there were several virtual hands raised with the same answer: Balboa Yacht Club’s Thursday evening Beer Cans Summer Series.
A 1988 story in the Los Angeles Times recalls a bar bet 25 years earlier that got it started, which would put the 2024 season as the 62nd edition. Here’s what they’ve been doing inside this Southern California harbor for a long time:
The Newport Beach International Boat Show will take place April 18 through 21 at Lido Marina Village, 3434 Via Oporto, with both on-water and on-land exhibitions, activations and entertainment.
The reimagined show will transform Lido Marina into a beautiful European coastal experience for everyone to enjoy.
Newport Harbor’s newest and largest public dock is now open for recreational boaters.
On Friday, March 29 I had the pleasure of joining Newport Beach City Council members along with officials from the County of Orange, the Irvine Company and State Assembly to celebrate the Balboa Marina Public Pier grand opening.
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