Materials May Drive Up Pier Cost : Repairs: If something stronger than wood is used, insurance will not cover added expense.

Pushed by public sentiment, city leaders decided three years ago to restore the city’s historic pier with timber instead of stronger materials, which could have offered greater protection against pounding waves but would have cost $550,000 more.

Now, with one-fourth of the 1,958-foot-long structure washed away by high seas, city officials are again faced with reconstruction of the storm-battered boardwalk. And this time, with growing interest in the use of the stronger materials, city officials may have to dig deep to find the money to rebuild.

The 123-year-old pier has been closed to the public since Wednesday, when 18- to 20-foot waves tore 420 feet of decking and 150 pilings from the seaward end. The damage is estimated at $1.5 million.

The city’s insurance will pay to repair the timber pier to its full length, minus a $100,000 deductible. However, some city leaders have said they want to rebuild the structure using steel or concrete, which could cost more than the city’s insurance would cover.

City engineers are moving quickly to pin down those costs. But there is little question that fortifying the pier with the stronger materials will cost more than rebuilding with traditional wood.

“Concrete is the most expensive,” said Walt Hurtienne, vice president of Long Beach pier engineers Moffatt & Nichol. Despite the cost, concrete is the material often recommended for repairing old piers, he said.

“With a timber pier,” he said, “you can only put in so many bolts to hold it together.”

In advance of the city’s 1992-93 wharf restoration, Hurtienne’s firm wrote a report identifying four ways to restore the aging pier. The first called for building the timber pier back to its full 1,958 feet using wood for $3.4 million.

The second called for restoring the pier to the same length, but using concrete, which would provide additional strength and lower maintenance, for $3.9 million.

The third and fourth methods proposed shortening the pier by 115 feet, using wood at a cost of $3.2 million or concrete for $3.7 million.

The council decided to go with the longer wooden pier, a move that Councilman Jim Monahan said was a mistake. He said he supported reinforcing the pier with steel supports during that 1992-93 restoration project, and still advocates using the stronger material.

“That’s where we made the mistake last time,” Monahan said of the all-wood pier. “I think we would do a more extensive modification now.”

But the extra fortification may not be covered by the city’s insurance. The policy will cover the estimated $1.5 million in repairs. If the city uses materials that cost more than that amount, the city will have to find a way to pay for it.

“We will figure out a way,” Monahan pledged Friday. “Even if we make it shorter.”

Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures said she is also in favor of rebuilding with stronger materials.

“I am inclined to be interested in shoring up our existing piles with a deeper steel support,” she said Friday. “I would like to look at the economic value in doing that.”

In the last decade, coastal communities from Pismo Beach to Huntington Beach have chosen to reinforce their historic piers with steel and concrete instead of the more vulnerable wood to protect against future storms.

The Pismo Beach Fishing Pier lost about 400 feet of its 1,200-foot timber structure to devastating winter storms in 1983. The 71-year-old pier was rebuilt using steel piles at a cost of $2.5 million.

Dave Watson, Pismo Beach’s former director of public services, said wood would have been about 20% cheaper, but not as strong.

“The problem we had in 1983 was probably similar to problems in Ventura,” Watson said. “At the time, the pipe piling was selected because of its cost and strength. . . . It cost more than wood piles but cost less than a concrete structure.”

A concrete structure is what Huntington Beach opted for after suffering sizable storm damage throughout the 1980s. That project, which involved rebuilding the entire structure in concrete, cost $14.5 million.

Architects and engineers were able to maintain its historic character using an all-concrete foundation.

Ventura officials believe this city’s pier also can be made stronger than it was without compromising its historic character.

“I am optimistic that we can retain the historic value and reinforce it with stronger material,” Measures said.

In other developments Friday, workers drove a crane out to the pier’s broken end to remove another 20 feet of damaged decking. Officials hope to reopen the walkway within the next two weeks.

“At this point, the rest of the pier looks like it is in pretty good shape,” Public Works Director Ron Calkins said.

The broken pier was toured by Assemblyman Brooks Firestone (R-Los Olivos) Friday afternoon, who praised the city for its quick response to the disaster.

The city reopened portions of San Buenaventura State Beach on Friday. The beach had been closed since Wednesday as city workers cleared debris and pier wreckage that had washed ashore. City officials are still warning the public to stay out of fenced areas between San Jon Road and San Pedro Street.

* WASHOUT

Storm expected to swamp the county Friday fizzled out. B4