Flagler Beach plans taller, stronger pier to withstand nature's storms

A new Flagler Beach pier would be taller and tougher to better withstand lashings from the powerful storms nature is more frequently churning up, engineers said during a meeting to discuss the planned replacement pier.

The city’s wooden pier has been repeatedly battered by hurricanes and storms. Hurricane Matthew tore off 160 feet of the pier in 2016. Hurricane Irma inflicted more damage in 2017. Tropical Storm Ian tore off another 120 feet in September and then Nicole caused additional damage in November.

The pier has been closed since Ian, and the city, which had already planned on replacing it, decided it was not safe to reopen, leaving Flagler Beach without the iconic structure that adorns its seal, holds the hearts of many residents and the base of anglers trying to catch the next meal or the latest bragging rights.

Flagler Beach pier damaged:Tropical Storm Ian rips off the end of the iconic Flagler Beach wooden pier

Flagler Beach pier closed:Flagler Beach won't reopen pier battered by Tropical Storm Ian before planned replacement

Pier shortened:Storms keep shortening Daytona Beach Shores' iconic Sunglow Pier

The new pier will be designed to be stronger than the previous one, which opened on July 4, 1928, engineers said.

“We are trying to break the cycle of constant repairs,” said Jackie Brower, an associate project manager and coastal engineer with Moffatt & Nichol, the firm designing the pier.

The new pier will cost $17 million to $18 million, said Flagler Beach City Manager William Whitson. The Federal Emergency Management Agency would provide much of the money, but Flagler Beach would have to chip in a 25% match. Whitson wrote in an email that the city is working with the state on the match.

Brower and Project Manager Gabriel Perdomo led a presentation Tuesday night on the preliminary plans for the pier to a packed “town hall” at the senior center at Wickline Park.

Perdomo provided a timeline in which design and permitting would be completed in time to put the project out to bid in January 2024. Construction would start that summer and the new 800-foot pier would be completed toward the end of 2025.

“It’s ambitious, but we are up to the challenge and we think it’s doable,” Perdomo said.

The existing A-frame building which houses the Funky Pelican restaurant would remain and the restaurant would stay open during construction, he said.

The existing first 100 feet of the wooden pier would also remain as recognition to its history, although it would be reinforced, he said.

The next 700 feet would be new and built on concrete piles.

The new pier would be 5 feet wider than the current 20 feet.

The new pier would include a 32-foot-wide "T-head" at the end, similar to the previous pier. Hurricane Matthew destroyed the previous T-head.

Breakaway panels on Flagler's new pier

The new pier would be 28 feet above the water. The existing pier is 17.8 feet above the water level. A gradual Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant slope would connect the first 100 feet to the new, higher pier.

Elevation is a key way to protect the pier, Brower said, by building the pier higher to get it out of the wave energy.

The sea level is expected to rise 1.5 to 2 feet over the next 50 to 100 years, so that must be considered when determining the height of the pier, the engineers said.

Another defense feature includes breakaway deck panels, which can break off from the force of powerful waves, the engineers said. The panels protect the main structure and are easily replaced.

Perdomo said that since the pier would use concrete piles, a lot less piles will be required to support it. Currently, the wooden piles are placed every 15 to 16 feet. But the concrete piles would be spaced every 40 feet, he said.

Perdomo said the pier would have fish-cutting stations as well as sightseeing spots so people could watch right whales swimming by or rockets streaking into the sky.

Another feature would be firewater connections, he said.

Another item under consideration is lighting. While lighting cannot be switched on year-round due to turtle nesting, there are times of the year that lights could accent the pier, Perdomo said.

Another possibility includes using solar panels to power phone-charging stations on the pier. He said planners are still accepting suggestions.

Perdomo said another public meeting will take place this summer to update people on the progress. He said engineers also plan to hear from stakeholders, such as local fishermen as well as surfers and businesses.

Sentimental wooden boards on pier

During a question-and-answer session at the end of the presentation, someone asked about the existing pier’s wooden boards, which people paid to have inscribed with the names of loved ones or friends.

Kee Shell, 33, of Ormond Beach, said he was a regular on the pier.

“I grew up fishing there,” Shell said.

He said he knew people who had friends and family members’ names inscribed on the boards. He said some of those boards were lost, carried away by the ocean, but he wanted to know about what would be done with the boards that have survived the hurricanes and storms.

“They have a lot of sentimental value,” Shell said.

Whitson said the city would make every effort to return the boards to the people who had their family and friends' names inscribed on them. He said the city had also collected boards that washed up on the shore and would try to return those boards as well.

Shell also said the T-head at the end of the pier was important for fishermen who had crowded the extra-wide area on the previous pier until it was destroyed by Hurricane Matthew.

Perdomo said planners were going to see if they could make it a little wider still.

Another person asked whether the design would consider uses other than fishing, since some people just like to take a walk out on the structure.

Whitson said it would and that it was being envisioned as an event space. He noted that the pier would be wider than the existing one, making it more suitable for events.

Jon Klapp, 75, of Flagler Beach, suggested that the pier have a catwalk near the water's surface so surfers could use it to get to deeper water.

After the meeting, Klapp wondered if the new pier could still serve as a launching pad for July Fourth fireworks, as the old one did.

When asked by a reporter, Perdomo said the new pier could be used to launch fireworks.

Whitson said that the repeated storm damage increased the price of removing the old pier from about $1.8 million to $5.6 million. That’s because the original plan was to place machines on top of the pier and work backward removing it. But that won’t work anymore because it’s too weak to hold heavy equipment.

The recent storms also ripped away roughly 250 feet of Daytona Beach Shores' Sunglow Pier and severely damaged its restaurant, Crabby Joe's Deck & Grill. The pier remains closed.

The Daytona Beach Pier also suffered damage during Tropical Storms Ian and Nicole, and the east end of the structure is still closed to fishermen three months later. Joe's Crab Shack, the pier's restaurant, however, is open to tourists.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler Beach pier: Residents get a look at the proposed plans