Pratte’s Reef

Pratte’s Reef was constructed off the beach of El Segundo, California in 2000 to improve surfing conditions. The reef was a complete failure from surfing perspective, but demonstrated that the California Coastal Commission saw surfable waves as a “habitat” worth protecting.

History

In 1984, Chevron built a 900-foot jetty to counteract the sand erosion in front of its refinery and protect the pipeline to its oil tankers. The reef’s namesake, Tom Pratte, worked on the permit issued to Chevron by the Coastal Commission. He included a stipulation to monitor the surf after jetty construction. The stipulation also required Chevron to “mitigate” for any adverse affects on the surrounding surf spots.

In 1990, after six years of research by Tom Pratte, the Coastal Commission affirmed that the jetty construction adversely affected the surf conditions. One wave that broke off a finger jetty at Grand avenue was particularly compromised.

Chevron, the Surfrider Foundation and the Coastal Commission spent the next 8 years slogging through various mitigation proposals from Chevron, Some of the proposal from Chevron focused on new shower installations and better parking. But Tom Pratte and the local surfing community wouldn’t settle for anything that didn’t actually improve the waves (or at least attempt to)…

The proposal also had to be approved by 23 agencies at the local, state and federal level.

In 1998, the Coastal Commission, Chevron and the Surfrider foundation settled on the installation of an artificial surf reef that would be at least partially funded by $300,000 from Chevron.

Design and Construction

Skelly Engineering was hired to design the surfing reef. They designed the reef as a delta or a “V”. The angle arms was 45 degrees off the predominant oncoming swell direction. Off the sandy bottom, it rose from about 5m deep to -0.9m MLLW (about 1m below sea level during low tide). I was located roughly 100 meters off the beach.

The specifications from Skelly called for the use of geotextile bags to create the reef. Skelly used two types of bags: polyester and polypropylene. However, compared to other bags used in artificial reef construction, the bags used by Skelly were smaller for safety, convenience and budget purposes. When filled, each bag weighed 14tons. They could easily fit in the back of a standard tip truck.

Skelly’s team filled the bags with local sand, loaded them onto a barge and placed using a crane mounted on the barge. The initial plan called for 110 bags.

Skelly completed initial construction of the artificial surf reef in 2000. But, because Skelly installed the reef during the summer, the first winter swells completely buried the reef when they moved the summer sand offshore.

After a few swells failed to produce any notably better waves on the reef, proponents decided that the reef needed to be bigger. Turns out they didn’t realize quite how much bigger it needed to be…

Surfrider contributed $50,000 more and the Coastal Conservancy added another $200,000. In April 2001, these funds were used to add 90 bags to the reef which were placed on top of the existing bags, making the reef shallower.

The Results

Pratte’s never consistently produced waves, but some public comments suggest it got was “epic” 1-5 times a year.

The reef was watched closely by Dr. Jose Borrero and Chad Nelsen during and after construction. Between April and December of 2001, they only saw one person surf Pratte’s reef. Then, as the winter swells starting arriving in January 2002, it all feel apart, literally: the bags were torn apart by the force of wave impacts and the remnants were pounded into the sand.

They concluded that the reef was not performing as expected. According to Borrero, who probably spent more time studying the reef than anyone on the planet, Pratte’s was “too small and too close to shore”. With a volume of 1400-1600 Cubic Meters its a fraction other previously created artificial surf reefs. For example, Mount Reef is roughly 6000 cubic meters. For a more local comparison, the jetty that makes the Wedge in Newport Beach, CA is estimated to be 300,000 cubic meters.

Size wasn’t the only problem… Divers who surveyed the reef saw bags had moved, sunken and got covered by sand. And the black polypropylene bags were falling apart.

The original agreement between the Coastal Commission and Surfrider gave Surfrider 10 years to get a reef in place that mitigated the losses caused by Chevron. The reef also had to be safe for humans and the environment. Given the risks posed by the decomposing bags, the Surfrider Foundation decided to remove the reef.

Removal of the reef was paid for by an anonymous $300,000 donation. It was managed by the Coastal Frontiers Corporation. Four divers from Alaska worked on the removal. They released the sand from the bag underwater and used a 70 foot boat to bring the geotextile bags to shore. Costal Frontiers Corporation started removal in the fall of 2008 and completed in 2010.

Tom Pratte passed away in 1995, before the reef was complete. Even though this reef failed, we have him to thank for the lessons learned and for the proving that surfable waves are a resource worth protecting.

The reef was also labeled a success by others, including C. Nelsen, because it was the first time the Coastal Commission recognized surfing and the first time the 23 involved agencies approved an artificial surf reef.

For more information, check out the video section for a documentary about Pratte’s reef Kurt Schaefer. It a wonderful film rich with history and great footage.

One more thing to know: Contrary to poplar belief, Pratte’s wasn’t the first artificial reef construction attempt in America. Hoppy’s Reef in Redondo was installed in 1971.

Sources: Surfline, Jackson and Corbett, EasyReader, Dr. Jose Borrero,