Malibu Pier piling replacement is finally underway this week, nearly one year-and-a-half after surf from Hurricane Marie knocked 15 pilings loose from the 111-year-old structure and seven months after Governor Jerry Brown allocated $4.6 million for California State Parks to make repairs on the historic sport fishing pier.
The far end of the pier will remain open during the entire construction period.
Nineteen new pilings were delivered on Monday, Feb. 8, to the staging area in the parking lot by the pier. The new pilings, which from a distance resemble wooden utility poles, are made of pressure-treated Douglas fir wood coated in a special fiberglass-type wrapping to prolong the life of the costly supports.
The wrapping, called polyurea, will protect the pilings and give them a lifespan of about 25 years.
“There’s no chemical or anything like that on them — they’re pressure-treated Douglas fir wood,” State Parks Angeles District Superintendent Craig Sap said.
The ends of the poles, which range in length from 38 to 55 feet and have a diameter of about 14 inches, are painted blue. These are the areas that will not be visible.
“As the slope goes deeper out there, bedrock is farther from the surface,” Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner explained, which is why some of the poles are substantially longer than others.
“The colored part will be seeded in the sand or connected under the deck,” Wagner continued. Wagner is concessionaire of the Pier and has spent time speaking with Sap and laborers from the contracted firm, John S. Meek. Meek has a history of working on the Malibu Pier.
A total of 39 new pilings will be placed at the pier between this week and Memorial Day, May 30, when construction ceases for the summer, though phase one could be done by April.
Phase two of the project, which will include the replacement of about 25 more poles, will begin some time after Labor Day.
Work has begun close to the land side of the pier and will crawl out to the end of the pier as pilings are placed.
“Ideally, we would have liked to have done it the other way, but … to get the equipment out there, they had to strengthen the pier as they work their way out to get to the end,” Sap explained.
While construction, including pile driving and the placement of additional supports and beams, will continue out on the pier for months, Malibu Farm and Malibu Pier Restaurant owner Helene Henderson wanted visitors to know her businesses are still operating as usual.
“We’re very excited that work has finally started,” Henderson said. “Right now, they are telling us [the Malibu Farm, on the far end of the pier] will not be closed.”
Heavy equipment like cranes and pile drivers take up about two thirds of the deck of the pier in some areas, while a walkway is designated to allow visitors to pass by safely. Despite the imposing construction zone, the Malibu Farm was buzzing with activity around lunch time Monday, which Henderson hopes will continue throughout the process, so her businesses stay afloat.
“We hope that Malibu supports us through the construction, because we do not have any rent abatements or anything like that,” Henderson shared. “We are going to pay full rent through construction, so we really need the support of the community.”
