Pier Should Be Extended With Steel, Report Says

The Ventura Pier should be returned to its original length, but the new segment should be reinforced with steel pilings and raised a few feet to spare it from punishing storm-driven waves, under a proposal before the City Council on Monday.

The recommendation from consultants, the city’s engineers and a citizens advisory committee also calls for narrowing the pier extension, replacing the 423 feet washed away in a storm last December.

“I believe everybody is interested in bringing it back and making sure it will last,” said Mayor Jack Tingstrom, who supports the plan. The cost of the work would largely be covered by the city’s insurance policy and state funds, he said.

Longtime community activists said they are resigned to giving up the distinction of having the state’s longest wooden pier in exchange for making it a lasting landmark, said Edna Mills, a member of the Community Affairs Commission, which has had two public meetings on pier improvements.

“I think the recommendations are going to be accepted by the public,” Mills said. “People want their pier standing; they don’t want to see it floating down the coast. So I think using steel is acceptable to the public.”

Mills has watched the long and expensive efforts to rebuild the 124-year-old pier fall to the onslaught of huge Pacific-born waves. The most recent damage occurred last December when storm waves lopped off the 423 feet of the pier, barely a year after it was reopened, she said.

Mills’ commission, city staff and a consultant agreed on using strong, steel pilings to extend the pier to its original length of 1,958 feet, but keeping the wooden deck planks to maintain its historic character.

In addition, the commission recommended narrowing the pier extension from a width of about 56 feet to about 40 feet, which would further strengthen the structure, Mills said.

Recommendations also call for increasing the extension’s elevation by 4.2 feet to bring it above the height of potentially damaging waves, said Ron Calkins, director of the city’s Public Works Department. The deck would gradually slope to the higher level, he said.

“It seems most people want to extend the pier to its original length,” Calkins said. “To do that and keep it strong, we would have to make it narrower and increase the height. But I think with the wooden deck, not many people would notice the difference.”

Another consideration is cost of rebuilding, he said.

The city expects to receive between $2 million and $2.5 million from the state and from an insurance policy to restore the pier. At most, the city could have to contribute $200,000 for the project, Calkins said.

According to a report from consultant Charles Rauw, the pier would again be destroyed by storm waves if it was rebuilt with wood pilings to the original length.

Rauw’s report said the pier must be able to withstand waves of about 20 feet high. Although bigger waves hit the coast periodically, those larger waves typically break in deeper water and lose their power by the time they hit the pier, Calkins said.

Councilman Jim Monahan said he agrees with many of the recommendations from the report, but added that if the council considers a shorter extension, it would leave money for other projects, such as setting up a boat landing on the pier.

Monahan said he envisions something akin to a landing used at Santa Barbara’s Stearn’s Wharf, where cruise ships and other boats can load and unload passengers.

“I’ve been talking about this for a while and no one has really responded yet,” he said.

Monday’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m in the council chamber at 501 Poli St.