Local News in Brief : Use of Steel Pipes Suggested for Pier

A marine engineering consultant has recommended that plastic-coated steel pipes be used instead of wood pilings to reconstruct the Redondo Beach Pier.

The steel pilings under a concrete deck would provide greater resistance against the kind of storms and fires that destroyed most of the pier last year, the consultant said.

Jim Crumpley, project engineer for Long Beach-based firm Moffatt & Nichol, told the Redondo Beach City Council that construction and maintenance costs for a pier using the steel pipes would also be lower than costs for four other options studied by the firm.

He said a Japanese company, Nippon Steel, has developed a plastic pipe coating that effectively resists salt-water corrosion for up to 70 years. In the recommended design, the pilings would connect through steel caps to a concrete deck.

Up to half of the $6-million pier reconstruction project will be financed by the state under the Natural Disaster Assistance Act, City Manager Tim Casey told the council.