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Calif. city building a "tsunami-resistant" port

November 22, 2012 | Modified: November 22, 2012 at 1:31 pm
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Photo -   An Oct. 26, 2012 photo shows a large backhoe repairing damage caused by the March, 2011 tsunami at the boat basin in Crescent City, Calif. Once it overcomes some construction setbacks, the port hopes to have the West Coast's first harbor designed to withstand the kind of tsunami expected to hit every 50 years. (AP Photo/Jeff Barnard)
An Oct. 26, 2012 photo shows a large backhoe repairing damage caused by the March, 2011 tsunami at the boat basin in Crescent City, Calif. Once it overcomes some construction setbacks, the port hopes to have the West Coast's first harbor designed to withstand the kind of tsunami expected to hit every 50 years. (AP Photo/Jeff Barnard)

CRESCENT CITY, Calif. (AP) — Town leaders in the Northern California commercial fishing village of Crescent City hope last year's tsunami is among the last of many that forced major repairs.

They're spending $54 million to build the West Coast's first harbor able to withstand the kind of tsunami expected to hit once every 50 years — the same kind that hit in 2011 after the massive Japanese earthquake. It sank 11 boats, damaged 47 others and destroyed two-thirds of the harbor's docks.

Since a tidal gauge was installed in the boat basin in 1934, the small port has been hit by 34 tsunamis, large and small. It typically suffers the most damage and the highest waves on the West Coast.

The improvements include 244 new steel pilings and a dock to dampen incoming waves.