What’s Going Up at 10th Street Beach? Locals See Seawall Work, City Records Are Thin

Published November 5, 2026

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NEWPORT BEACH | SURF & COAST | NOVEMBER 5, 2026

Bay Street flooded hard. Now crews are working beside the seawall at 10th Street Beach, and locals want to know if the City is raising it—and what that means for waterfront businesses that got hit.

The longer video shows a worker using a power tool beside the concrete wall and a large sand berm. “Roberts” is visible on the worker’s jacket. Eric Dutra says the truck was marked T.E. Roberts. A longtime neighbor told him the seawall is being raised. The footage shows work underway, but it can’t tell us how much the wall is changing, what the job costs or who approved it.

A search of The Balboa Local’s indexed city records turned up no project record explaining this work at 10th Street Beach. The archive does show a T.E. Roberts contract for on-call water, wastewater and storm-drain work. That contract listing doesn’t establish that this seawall job is part of it. “Roberts” on a jacket is a clue, not a purchase order.

The City’s flood-recovery permit page says expedited processing is available for temporary bulkhead and seawall extensions. The same page has a heading that includes commercial and mixed-use properties, but the details below describe duplex and multifamily reviews. It doesn’t clearly say whether a Balboa Fun Zone business qualifies, and it doesn’t lay out permanent protection for commercial properties.

That leaves two straightforward questions for City Hall: What exactly is being built at 10th Street Beach, and when will flood-hit businesses get clear answers about lasting protection? The tide doesn’t wait for a permit page to explain itself.

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What’s Going Up at 10th Street Beach? Locals See Seawall Work, City Records Are Thin

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