Heavy equipment begins moving Santa Barbara sand north to Goleta

Heavy equipment has begun moving Santa Barbara sand to a staging area, where it will be trucked to an eroding section of Goleta Beach Park.

The project will take ten days. Five this week. Five next month. All the work will be done at low tide.

Inspectors are on site. They say part of their job is to make sure the equipment does not have contact with the water.

Overall 600 truck loads of sand will be brought to Goleta.

The park has faced years of issues during the winter storms that have taken chunks from the beach, and the grassy picnic area. Several solutions have been discussed to slow the erosion, and this is one piece to a larger discussion. Similar work was done in 2010.

Experts say the ocean currents will bring the sand back down again to Santa Barbara over time.

The work in the west beach area of the harbor will create a quiet cove for swimming, paddle board, kayaks, and small sail boats.

(check back more information and video will be added here later today)