Landmark Decision

A security guard now patrols the wobbly Aliso Pier in South Laguna, where beach-goers run the risk of being hit by falling chunks of concrete.

The storm-damaged pier is in such bad shape that the Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will decide whether to tear down the 27-year-old landmark.

“It must be demolished,” said Supervisor Tom Wilson, who added an emergency item on the pier to the board’s agenda. “It’s unsafe. It cannot be repaired. We’ve done all the analysis that can be done. It’s been damaged to the extent that it would be too costly and too much of a problem to repair.”

A new pier would cost about $5 million, officials said, and it’s unclear whether the county can afford to replace it.

The 660-foot-long pier was pummeled in this winter’s El Nino storms, causing cracks in the concrete pilings. Some of the pilings have eroded to the point that the steel rods are exposed.

Because of the hazards, the pier has been closed since February, and a guard has been posted to keep people from dangerous areas during beach hours, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., said Tim Miller, manager of the county’s Harbors, Beaches and Parks Division.

“We certainly don’t want anyone walking underneath it,” Miller said.

If the Board of Supervisors approves the demolition, county officials will immediately seek bids for the job, Wilson said. Meanwhile, the county will seek state and federal emergency disaster funds to rebuild the pier and begin considering a new site “maybe a few hundred feet or yards away,” Wilson said. “I don’t want to put it in the exact same spot and have the exact same thing happen again.”

County officials could not estimate how long it would take to demolish the pier or rebuild it.

An engineering report completed this year found that one-fourth of the pilings are cracked or otherwise damaged. At least three pilings have major problems with exposed steel corrosion that further weakens the structure.

The report, however, said the pier should not be immediately demolished, noting the “considerable advantage” of using the structure as a work platform for a new pier.

The structure, which has a distinctive diamond-shaped fishing area at the end, was built in 1971.

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Surf as high as 20 feet pounded the pier through the winter and spring. Officials closed it in March after noticing that the pier swayed when big waves hit it.

The pier is a popular area for fishing and surfing and is part of a 4.2-acre public beach development off South Coast Highway.

Surfers worry that the proposed demolition could affect the waves, which break off both sides of the pier, said Joe Niles, manager of Costa Azul Norte surf shop in Laguna Beach.

“Of course I’d like to see it stay, but if it’s a public safety hazard, then take it down quick,” he said.