whaleBone-350

Tom Ralston Concrete was asked to bid a public works project on the cliff directly above the surf breaks of First and Second Peaks at Pleasure Point on the East Side of Santa Cruz. The project is a terrace/amphitheater which incorporates beautifully colored concrete with sea shells and beach glass as well as fossils from the Monterey Bay that are thousands of years old. The main embed was a 5-million year old whale bone that was located in May of 2010 approximately 500 yards south of the project where the replica now rests. As the pictures will indicate, a polyurethane mold was made, a special concrete mix design was poured into the mold and then craftsmen from TRC acid stained the “bones”.  A close up of the concrete bones looks incredibly realistic. TRC worked with Sean Monaghan of Santa Cruz Bronze Works on the project.