Orange County crews have begun laying thousands of pounds of sand in San Clemente as part of an emergency project to protect a vulnerable passenger and freight rail line along the Pacific coast.

On Friday, members of the Orange County Transportation Authority celebrated the delivery of the first round of sand to be placed along the coastal rail line in a "sand nourishment" effort meant to protect the vital train corridor from the elements.

Over the next week, more than 300 truckloads of sand from a quarry in Palm Springs will be dropped off in the area, totalling more approximately 3,400 cubic yards of sand.

In the following days, crews will place the sand along a more-than quarter-mile stretch of North Beach in San Clemente, which has been the site of previous track closures due to ero

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