PCH Teeters – Crews Scramble Before El Niño

After storms ripped out a chunk of the Pacific Coast Highway, crews rushed to armor the shoreline to keep the road from breaking again before winter hits.

Story Snapshot

California transportation crews placed large rocks to shield Highway 1 near Malibu after storm-driven erosion.
Officials warned of more damage risk with strong surf and an expected El Niño season ahead.
A southbound lane near Crystal Cove closed as engineers studied a new hillside crack.
Some washouts remained marked with cones while plans and timelines were still under review.

Emergency Shoreline Armor Built at Thornhill Broome

California’s transportation agency began emergency work along State Route 1 at Thornhill Broome Beach after waves cut into the road bed. Crews stacked large rock, known as rock slope protection, along the ocean side to blunt the surf and stop more undercutting. The agency framed the push as work ahead of an El Niño winter, when surf and tides often peak. The goal was to keep the highway open and safe while bigger design choices get studied and funded.

Reporters on scene in Malibu described pavement hanging over a deep void and a broken water line where waves chewed out the ground under the edge of the highway. Local updates estimated roughly 50 feet of damage where the surf collapsed soil and sand from beneath the asphalt. The images showed why crews moved fast, and why surface repairs alone would not be enough without a barrier to the ocean’s force.

Added Protections: Mesh, Drainage, and Rockfall Controls

A spokesperson said teams were doing more than dropping boulders. Workers repaired and replaced drainage and culvert systems, making some larger and longer to handle runoff. They added mesh on the ocean side with boulders laid over it to lock the armor together. They also addressed rockfall risks tied to past burn scars, which can shed debris when rains return. These steps aim to reduce both wave attack from below and slope failures from above.

Officials in Orange County closed a southbound lane on the highway between Reef Point Drive and Irvine Cove Drive after a crack appeared in the slope below the road. A transportation spokesperson asked drivers to slow down and follow detours while engineers reviewed surveys and drone footage. The lane closure helped protect crews and the public while experts studied what triggered the crack and what fix would hold.

Beach Closures and Geotechnical Review Expand the Safety Net

California State Parks evacuated visitors from 26 cottages near the affected bluff and closed the beach below it. The local superintendent said the slope needed a geotechnical review to judge stability and next steps. Removing people from beach areas under fragile cliffs reduced the chance of injury while the land settled and crews gathered data. Those moves showed how different agencies shared duties along the coast during storm recovery.

The emergency teams faced gaps that come with fast response. In Malibu, earlier washouts on the eastbound side stayed marked by cones, and at least one drop near the bike lane was steep. Some fixes were still under review, and officials had not released final designs or a firm reopening timeline for the Orange County lane. That is common in storm season, but it leaves drivers hungry for clear milestones and detour plans.

Why This Matters: Keeping a Lifeline Open While Planning the Future

The Pacific Coast Highway is both a scenic route and a daily artery for work, school, and goods. Keeping it open after storms helps local business, emergency access, and tourism. But the shoreline keeps moving, and armor can only do so much in the surf zone. California has faced this before. At Devil’s Slide, the state built tunnels and bridges after years of closures and costly fixes on the cliff road.

Further north, the state moved parts of Highway 1 inland at Piedras Blancas and at Gleason Beach after long cycles of emergency walls and pavement repairs. Those projects traded near-term patching for a longer path that matched erosion over time. The same debate lies ahead here: protect in place with rock and mesh, or study realignment where the coast allows. For now, crews are buying time so families, workers, and first responders can keep moving.