Malibu Creek after removal of the Texas Crossing. Photo: Heal the Bay (click image to enlarge).

Two views of the Texas Crossing before demolition. Photos: Heal the Bay (click images to enlarge).

In November 2006, the long-awaited removal of the Texas Crossing in Malibu Creek State Park was completed, opening up over one mile of quality fish habitat that was previously blocked.

Demolition of the Texas Crossing began in October 2006 when the Stream Team Field Team, together with State Parks Restoration personnel, started their attack on the massive concrete structure. At over 200 feet long, nearly 30 feet wide and, on average, 1 foot thick, removal of the Texas Crossing required breaking up and hauling over 300 tons of reinforced concrete!

During several days of the removal project, a backhoe operated by California State Parks was used to remove large concrete pieces and five 18-inch metal culverts that were in the stream channel (the culverts can be seen in the black and white photo and throughout the demolition video). The large backhoe was able to reach the concrete and culverts in the stream while avoiding contact with the water.

Many thanks to the California Coastal Conservancy for funding this project and to all of you who came out to the restoration events and helped clear debris. We couldn't have done it without your help!

About the Texas Crossing

The Texas Crossing, an elevated road-crossing spanning Malibu Creek upstream of Rindge Dam, has long been acknowledged as a barrier to fish passage, dramatically limiting access by fish to over a mile of outstanding quality habitat upstream. In addition, the crossing was causing erosion to the stream channel and downstream banks adding excess sediment to Malibu Creek.

The Texas Crossing was made unsafe for vehicle traffic by the 1998 El Niño storms and continued to deteriorate since that time. The removal of the dilapidated structure had been planned since 2002.