Pacifica Pier News

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The vandals who pried up concrete benches from the Pacifica Pier and possibly tossed them over the side into the ocean cost the city nearly $6,000. That’s the estimated cost to replace the benches, which were discovered missing July 20. The culprits also pried up a steel plate from the floor of the pier.

From the Pacifica Tribune Police Beat.

PACIFICA — Lots of people visit the Pacifica Pier to watch the waves crash far below their feet. Little did they know that for years, the ocean has also been taking pieces of the neighborhood along with it.

The extent of the damage was a total mystery until early this week, when city officials cut up a large section of concrete in the sidewalk in front of the Pacifica Pier and discovered a huge, gaping sinkhole underneath — deep enough to stack three rusty cars.

“We didn’t know (the sinkhole) was there until the concrete started bouncing under people’s feet,” said Public Works Director Scott Holmes. Public Works employees have since cordoned off the area and opened up the top of the hole to get a better look, but they’re still not sure how far underground it goes. Holmes put the measurements at 30 feet wide and 11 feet long, reaching all the way from the edge of the sidewalk along Beach Boulevard to the place where the ocean meets the shore at the base of Pacifica Pier. The pier itself remains open.

Locals must now step carefully around the equivalent of a small construction site at the base of the pier — that is, if they dare walk by at all. On Thursday, Beach Boulevard was doused in seawater as wave after wave pounded the seawall and sprayed across the street, sprinkling the cars parked in front of homes 50 feet away. Any passerby was likely to get soaked.”I watch the rail as I walk along. It’s very wet,” said local resident David La Trobe, observing the scene in his hiking boots.

Crews will begin fixing the sinkhole this Monday, and will most likely fill it with a base of gravel and sand, said Holmes. He said the repairs would be paid for through a grant awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency after the City of Pacifica declared a state of emergency following last winter’s storms.

Sinkholes are common along Beach Boulevard, although rarely do they go undetected for so long, according to Holmes. He said the city had already detected two smaller gaps developing under the sidewalk closer to Paloma Avenue, a quarter-mile away. The last big problem developed after the El Nio winter storms of 1998, when part of the seawall was so weak that it pulled away from the street and collapsed into the ocean. The water rushing in created a sinkhole about 30 feet north of the current one, according to Holmes.

He called the sinkhole problem “a constant headache.” But said that once they were poured with the concrete mixture, the holes would disappear for the duration.

“We keep filling in the voids, and we will fix everything sooner or later,” said Holmes.

Back at the base of the pier, Public Works engineer Victor Dominguez removed a thin wood board weighed down with sandbags. He pointed into the dark hole, at the bottom of which the tide could be seen licking the rocks underground.

“This was completely full of dirt,” he said. “The waves came in and have been eating it away more and more.”

His boss, Public Works parks supervisor Ron Fasconda, explained that over time, the force of the waves had eroded the protective metal sheet at the base of Pacifica Pier. The water then worked its way behind the concrete-reinforced rocks piled up behind it and started digging the sand and dirt out from underneath the sidewalk. He said the repairs would only take a couple of days once begun.

The pier itself has been eroding for decades. City officials have spent $2.5 million on repairs to the rusting structure since the 1980s, according to Holmes. The first four piles that front the place where the sinkhole began are in particularly bad shape and have been repaired before. The city will begin work on the pier with some grant money it received from the California Coastal Conservancy this spring, although the money will not go toward replacing the metal barrier that used to keep the water out from under the sidewalk.

But all the money in the world could not stop the onslaught of the ocean at high tide, say officials. Workers in the city’s Engineering Department are constantly replacing 2- and 4-ton boulders they add along the beach to shore up the seawall. The rocks eventually sink under their own weight and wash out to sea, where they are rescued and put back in place.

“You’re looking at a pretty ferocious ocean that is keeping workers busy trying to hold the line,” said Holmes. “Whether you’re going to win the battle or not depends on how much effort you put into it.”

By Julia Scott of the Oakland Tribune

Suspended some 50 feet above the huge green swells of the Pacific Ocean, contractor Joe Ferriero works like a dentist on a huge, decaying jaw.

“This is no good,” he says, holding a concrete hammer drill and looking up at an edge of rotting cement. “This corrosion is like cancer — If you don’t get it, it will just keep spreading.”

The jaw in question is the underbelly of the Pacifica Pier, and the procedure is a labor-intensive repair process that involves hammering away disintegrating cement and rusted steel rebar and replacing them with new materials.

As Ferriero and his crew have witnessed first-hand, the ocean is an unforgiving force of nature — it’s no mystery to them why the pier’s falling apart.

“No one’s fallen in yet,” Ferriero says, covered from head to toe with a layer of concrete dust. “But we saw a huge wave coming in the other day. He didn’t even say anything — he just took off up the ladder,” he says, motioning to his smiling co-worker, Neftali Cervantes. “I got soaked.”

In addition to a hard-hat, safety goggles and gloves, Cervantes is also wearing a life-jacket.

Ferriero and his crew have been hired by the city of Pacifica to complete what Public Works Director Scott Holmes has called an “interim fix” for the aging structure. The project is being paid for with a $500,000 grant, awarded by the Coastal Conservancy in 2002, and is expected to be completed by the end of January.

The pier, built in 1972, stretches 1,000 feet into the ocean and is said to draw more than 150,000 people a year. It would cost an estimated $20 million to completely fix the pier, but Holmes is making do with the money he has — and continuing to look for other sources of funding.

The pier has remained open during the repairs. Fishermen stood quietly along it Wednesday afternoon, lines trailing in the churned-up surf below, as the repair team drilled and hauled buckets of crumbled concrete up top.

Working on specialized scaffolding that hangs below the pier — that affords a unique view of the pier’s long cement legs and the exposed rusted steel bars that have been reduced to what looks like burnt twigs — Ferriero said that after they drill out the old cement and bars, they will drill in new steel bars, tie them together, then spray concrete over them. They intend to work their way down the pier, toward the beach, and hopefully finish in about a week.

While Ferriero and his crew have endured rain, wind and waves. He cannot understand why anyone would do it voluntarily.

“Look at those guys,” he said, pointing to the wetsuit-clad surfers floating in the water below. “I don’t know what those guys could possibly see is fun about going in water that cold.”

Staff writer Amelia Hansen covers the Coast and north County cities.

LOAD-DATE: January 13, 2004

Copyright 2004 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
San Mateo County Times (San Mateo, CA)
January 8, 2004 Thursday
SECTION: LOCAL & REGIONAL NEWS

LENGTH: 480 words

HEADLINE: $500,000 job under way on pier;
Crew is replacing Pacifica Pier’s rotten cement, rusted rebar with new materials

BYLINE: By Amelia Hansen, STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: PACIFICA

IN A PERFECT WORLD, the state of California would hand over a $20 million check to the city of Pacifica to help rebuild its rusting, cracking, weather-beaten pier.

Pacifica public works officials, however, are grateful for the real-life alternative — a $500,000 grant to help shore up the 31-year-old structure before Mother Nature delivers her brutal winter blows.

“It’s a major repair, but it’s still an interim fix,” said Pacifica Public Works Director Scott Holmes. “This will give us another five years — maybe 10.”

The grant, awarded last November by the Coastal Conservancy, will cover the cost of the short-term repair project, which will last until the end of January. The pier, built in 1972, stretches 1,000 feet out into the ocean and is said to draw more than 150,000 people a year — many who use it for salmon or crab fishing.

A small team of contract workers recently began work on the decrepit structure, working from a specialized scaffolding that hangs underneath the pier. The workers will use jackhammers to get rid of the cracked concrete, which has expanded from the pressure of the rusting steel.

They will then cut away the rusty steel, weld on new steel, and epoxy new concrete back on, Holmes said. The end result will be improved safety for visitors — and more time for the city to go out and acquire more funding.

While the project falls short of solving the long-term problems of the pier, Holmes said these repairs are not superficial.

“The main failure points on the deck, the rusting rebars, that is being addressed pretty well,” he said. Of course, it’s impossible to predict how this year’s winter storms may wreak havoc on the structure.

“There could be a big event that knocks something loose,” Holmes said. “That can still happen.”

LOAD-DATE: December 2, 2003

Copyright 2003 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
The Oakland Tribune (Oakland, CA)
December 2, 2003 Tuesday
SECTION: LOCAL & REGIONAL NEWS

LENGTH: 301 words

HEADLINE: Aging Pacifica Pier to get repairs

BYLINE: By Amelia Hansen, STAFF WRITER

In a perfect world, the state would hand over a $20 million check to the city of Pacifica to help rebuild its rusting, cracking, weather-beaten pier.

Pacifica public works officials, however, are grateful for the real-life alternative — a $500,000 grant to help shore up the 31-year-old structure before Mother Nature delivers her brutal winter blows.

“It’s a major repair, but it’s still an interim fix,” said Pacifica Public Works Director Scott Holmes. “This will give us another five years, maybe 10.”

The grant, awarded last November by the Coastal Conservancy, will cover the cost of the short-term repair project, which will last until the end of January.

A small team of contract workers recently began work on the decrepit structure, working from a specialized scaffolding that hangs underneath the pier. The workers will use jackhammers to get rid of the cracked concrete, which has expanded from the pressure of the rusting steel.

They will then cut away the rusty steel, weld on new steel and attach new concrete with epoxy, Holmes said. The result will be improved safety for visitors — and more time for the city to go out and acquire more funding.

While the project falls short of solving the long-term problems of the pier, Holmes said these repairs are not superficial.

“The main failure points on the deck, the rusting rebars, that is being addressed pretty well,” he said. Of course, it’s impossible to predict how this year’s winter storms could wreak havoc on the structure.

“There could be a big event that knocks something loose,” Holmes said. “That can still happen.”

LOAD-DATE: December 3, 2003

Copyright 2003 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Tri-Valley Herald (Pleasanton, CA)
December 3, 2003 Wednesday
SECTION: MORE LOCAL NEWS
LENGTH: 290 words
BYLINE: By Amelia Hansen, STAFF WRITER

IN A PERFECT WORLD, the state of California would hand over a $20 million check to the city of Pacifica to help rebuild its rusting, cracking, weather-beaten pier. Pacifica public works officials, however, are grateful for the real-life alternative — a $500,000 grant to help shore up the 31-year-old structure before Mother Nature delivers her brutal winter blows.

“It’s a major repair, but it’s still an interim fix,” said Pacifica Public Works

Author: Amelia Hansen, STAFF WRITER
Article ID: 1803858
Date: December 2, 2003
Publication: Oakland Tribune, The (CA)

Pacifica Pier has been rescued from what seemed certain closure.
The Coastal Conservancy has approved a $500,000 grant to repair the Pier, California’s most popular pier for fishing and crabbing. The pier extends past the ocean breakers at Sharp Park, providing the only opportunity to catch salmon (in summer months) at a pier in California.
About 150,000 people visit the pier each year, according to the Pacifica Parks and Recreation Department, but its cement pilings have been deteriorating for years from the constant pounding from the ocean. State Sen. Jackie Speier, Assemblyman Lou Pappan were key supporters of the grant. The gate at the pier is open from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day.
Outdoor notes of note:
Road closures for Mt. Tam?: A management plan for the Mt. Tamalpais watershed is in the works that will identify the 200 miles of roads and trails open to biking and hiking and their roles in contributing to erosion. The plan will be open to public comment over winter, with implementation planned starting next year. This one could get wild. Stay tuned. For more information, check out the www.marinwater.org Web site.
Deer Avenger III: This crazy video game has been introduced in a new edition where you, as the player, are a deer, then venture out stalking the woods, looking for hunters. You can bait the hunters in by placing beer, pizza, magazines and other goodies, then hiding behind a tree, waiting for them to be lured in. Each time you get yourself a hunter, you are awarded their gun. The goal is to fill up your trophy wall with the heads of nine hunters.
No snow, no panic: On a flight over the Sierra last weekend, seeing the lack of snow across the high country was something of a shock, especially with all media reports about the opening of the winter sports season. But according to my logbook, the lack of snow this early isn’t unusual. The first heavy Sierra snowfall often doesn’t arrive until just before the first full moon of December (Dec. 16-19 this year), with the annual procession of winter storms typically starting in mid-January.
Fortune 500: According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the nation’s 38 million fishermen and hunters spend $70 billion per year on their sports. If this industry were a company, said Laura Houseal of Ducks Unlimited, “it would rank 11th on the Fortune 500.”
State park numbers: State park visitation is up 33 percent during the past four years, a direct result of day-use fees having been cut from $5 to $2 per vehicle at most parks. Roy Stearns at State Park headquarters said that an estimated 86 million visitors per year are contributing $2.6 billion to local communities, with increases of 21 million visitors and $800 million in the past four years.
More kings to lakes: It started as an experiment, but the stocks of salmon in lakes by Fish and Game is a widespread success. More salmon are being stocked this month in Northern California at Lake Shasta, Whiskeytown and Trinity Lake.
Believe it or not: Gary Gatto of Santa Clara County saw what appeared to be a giant fish flopping about the surface at Uvas Lake near Gilroy. It turned out that a 3-pound largemouth bass had a 12-inch bass stuck in its mouth, too big to swallow. Gratto dislodged the smaller bass and both were released alive.
E-mail Tom Stienstra at tstienstra@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page B - 12 of the San Francisco Chronicle

PACIFICA — It may not be pretty, or always smell nice, but the Pacifica Pier is a favorite spot for many — fishermen, tourists, artists, and, of course, the hordes of hungry seagulls. Thanks to a $500,000 grant from the state, just approved by the Coastal Conservancy, the 1,000-foot pier will soon be the recipient of much-needed structural repairs, including reinforced rebar and improvements to the cracking concrete.

“The pier gets a lot of use,” said Pacifica City

Author: Amelia Hansen, STAFF WRITER
Date: November 6, 2002
Publication: Alameda Times-Star (CA)

Construction workers worked late into the evening Thursday pouring concrete into the promenade of the Pacifica Pier. The pier was battered by storm-driven waves Thursday and yesterday, but crews managed to complete the repairs Thursday night.

GRAPHIC: PHOTO, Chris Hardy/The Chronicle

LOAD-DATE: January 13, 2001

Copyright 2001 The Chronicle Publishing Co.
The San Francisco Chronicle
JANUARY 13, 2001, SATURDAY, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A18

LENGTH: 41 words

HEADLINE: Re-Pier Work

DATELINE: Pacifica

BODY: