Roiling Seas Weaken Huntington, Seal Beach Piers, Forcing Closures

Citing structural damage and high, pounding waves that threatened to sweep beachgoers into the ocean, officials in Huntington Beach and Seal Beach kept city piers closed Sunday.

“This has been the worst storm of the season,” said Steve Seim, a marine safety officer stationed on the Huntington Beach Pier. “This is the first time the pier has been closed since we reopened last September. Yesterday we had the biggest waves we’ve had since the 1983 season.”

Violent winter storms during February and March of 1983 shattered three of Orange County’s six ocean piers. After two years of repair work and nearly $5 million in renovation costs, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach and San Clemente piers were rebuilt and reopened.

But last week’s storms--and the crashing, 15-foot waves they brought with them--were graphic reminders that “Mother Nature can just kick some butt,” Seim said. “It’s just a little anniversary present so we don’t forget it. People keep saying, ‘But you just fixed it (the pier).’ But this is Mother Nature, and she can tear down anything.”

Lifeguards and city officials decided to close the outermost third of the Huntington Beach pier at 1 p.m. Saturday, Seim said, because several “bumper pilings” that keep boats from crashing into the main support pilings were dislodged by the waves.

Wet With Spray

By 3 p.m. the pier was wet with spray from the ocean, and officials closed the entire pier because they feared visitors would be washed off the structure if the waves got any higher.

Lifeguards went underneath the pier and saw that several support pilings had been damaged also, and they filmed a videotape of the damage. “That (the damaged support pilings) was what caused the most concern,” Seim said. “They were making quite a noise. When we closed The End Cafe, the waitresses there were happy to leave.”

Paul Cook, Huntington Beach’s public works director, estimated that the storm had caused at least $50,000 damage to the pier, which had reopened only five months ago--after a $1.3-million renovation.

Four new bumper pilings were missing, and at least four structural support pilings were loosened and will need to be removed and replaced, Cook said.

“I imagine it will reopen tomorrow unless the surf conditions continue,” Cook said Sunday. “It’s structurally safe for people. We just don’t want a huge wave to come by while there are a lot of people out there. We’re just being cautious. Tomorrow morning we’ll go out with lifeguards and engineers from my department and assess the damage.”

The Seal Beach Pier, which underwent a $2.3-million renovation after the 1983 destruction, was closed at 2 p.m. on Saturday because the waves had broken four of the structure’s 1,000 “cross members,” wooden struts that tie the pilings together to keep the pier from rocking back and forth, said Tim Dorsey, chief of lifeguards.

Dorsey said that many of the structure’s bumper pilings had pulled about five feet away from the pier. Dorsey said the damage was one of the main reasons for the pier’s closure because if the bumper pilings break off, the waves can ram them back into the pier and do more damage.

According to lifeguard David Steffen, the pier should remain closed at least until today to allow city engineers to assess the damage. “It’s strictly a safety precaution,” Steffen said. “We’re not sure if it’s safe now.”

Waves had subsided to about six feet at most Orange County beaches Sunday, and no damage was reported at Newport, Balboa or San Clemente piers. Although lifeguards at Laguna Beach reported hazardous conditions, no rescues were necessary.

Little to See

Most pier visitors in Huntington Beach were undisturbed by Sunday’s inconvenience. Although camera-packing sightseers crowded up against white sawhorses emblazoned with the words Street Closed to look at the pier, there was little to see except cocky pigeons and gulls strutting down the empty lane in front of the deserted The End Cafe.

Carl Riccardi, who has worked at the Tackle Box on the pier “off and on for a lot of years” was philosophical about the pier closure.

“When the waves are big, the fishing’s bad,” Riccardi said. “That affects business. Closing off the pier destroys it. But really, they couldn’t fish there anyway. Their lines would get wrapped around the pilings. So there are fewer surfers, fewer fishermen and more tourists.”