Study Offers 6 Options to Restore Pier

Seven months after waves pummeled the historic Ventura Pier and ripped out 425 feet of its wood decking, an engineers’ report has recommended reinforcing and partially rebuilding the structure with steel supports.

The inch-thick report, set for City Council review next week, evaluates six options for repairing the structure, which was once considered the longest wooden pier in the state at its previous 1,958 feet.

The alternatives range from leaving the structure as it now stands to rebuilding at least a portion of its broken section with stronger materials, such as steel or concrete.

Each option uses a funding limit of $2.5 million, which is the estimated damage total and the amount city officials expect to receive from its insurance policy. The city still must pay a $100,000 deductible.

The expected payment is not enough to rebuild the pier to its original length, but would allow the city to extend the pier an additional 160 to 300 feet, depending on the material used and the amount of reinforcement.

Nearly a quarter of the pier’s timber deck and supports were washed away when high waves pounded the structure before dawn Dec. 13, 1995, in one of the worst disasters in the landmark’s 124-year history.

It would cost millions of dollars more than the insurance policy covers to extend the pier to its original length, according to the report. But several other options are available for the $2.5-million price tag:

* Take no action and leave the pier at its current 1,533-foot length.

* Strengthen the pier with steel bracing to minimize the risk of future storm damage.

* Rebuild a portion of the pier, about 245 feet, using larger timber piles.

* Rebuild a portion of the pier using larger timber piles and steel bracing underneath the existing wood deck.

* Rebuild a portion of the pier, about 250 feet, using concrete piles.

* Rebuild a portion of the pier, about 300 feet, using steel piles.

The report also indicates the council could pursue a combination of options, such as spending $1.64 million to reinforce the current pier and an additional $860,000 to extend it about 160 feet.

Another recommendation suggests raising the height along the entire pier deck about 4 feet, because the existing deck is too close to the height of waves breaking during storms.

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The report recommends using steel to shore up and extend the pier. Steel piles, similar to those used on oil platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel, are strong and easier to pound into the ocean floor than concrete or wood.

The report strongly advises against leaving the pier as it is now, warning that to do nothing would put the remaining structure at risk of further storm damage.

The detailed document is the first step toward rebuilding the structure. Several public hearings will be conducted by the city’s Community Affairs Commission in the coming months.

A final decision on pier repairs is not expected until late this year, city officials said, which means the pier may need to be closed during the upcoming winter storm periods because of lingering damage from last year.

“There is the potential that if we get storms like last year we would be shutting it down,” said Greg Gilmer, a supervisor with the city’s parks department, which oversees the pier’s operation.

Structural studies conducted earlier this year found that last December’s storm waves knocked some wood piles loose. Bugs, worms and mollusks that bore into wood have also eaten away at the timber structure and caused additional damage, the report found.

“The pier as it is right now is susceptible to wave damage in certain storm events,” said Henry Graumlich, assistant to the public works director. “The city has developed a monitoring system and when the waves reach a critical height . . . we would close it.”

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City leaders said Tuesday that they are not willing to spend more than the $2.5 million in anticipated insurance payments to repair the pier, adding that the insurance dollars must stretch as far as possible.

“I think that it is extremely important to utilize every insurance penny available to the city,” Councilman Jim Friedman said. “Not to do so just doesn’t make financial sense.”

Councilman Jim Monahan said he would like to see the pier at least partially rebuilt and improved by adding a landing at the end where tour boats could dock.

But he said he would not support spending more than the expected insurance settlement at this time.

“That’s a pretty tough call right now when we have so much that needs attention,” he said. “The pier is important, but I don’t know if we need to go beyond the $2.5 million.”

Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures, who also wants the city to spend no more than the insurance payment, said she would like to see the structure strengthened as much as possible before any extension is considered.

“We need to look at the safest and most durable means to restore our pier,” she said.

All three council members said they like the idea of reinforcing the structure with steel supports, which the engineering report said would provide the best protection against future storms.

“Every time we go up against Mother Nature,” Freidman said, “we lose.”