The State : Huntington Pier Closed

The 74-year-old Huntington Beach Pier has been closed indefinitely by city officials, who called it structurally unsafe. The officials said the pier, which was used as a submarine look-out during World War II, will be demolished and rebuilt in stages over three years. They said the concrete underbelly of the pier has fallen off in chunks, caught by a net apron beneath it but leaving its skeleton of steel reinforcement beams exposed to rust and corrosion. A report by engineers, commissioned by the city after high seas ripped a section of the pier in January, said its “reinforcing steel . . . has lost much, if not all, of its effectiveness in several key locations.”