Vital repair works costing almost £1 million to a town’s landmark pier could be given the nod this week.
The decision is in the hands of Dover District Council’s (DDC) cabinet to agree whether to release funds to allow the scheme to progress in Deal.
It follows the completion of £140,000 repairs to the lower deck last autumn, after the area had been closed off from the previous April.
Structural experts abseiled down the pier to assess the work needed on the steps.
Previously, surveys revealed storm damage to six of the pier legs, where concrete had separated, exposing the structural steel below, which had been protected from corrosion for the last 70 years.
Now, officers at DDC are recommended the costly but crucial work is carried out in order to “secure the valued asset for future generations to enjoy”.
Cabinet members have been advised to release the funds needed for the restoration from the authority’s medium-term financial plan budget.
The works will include employing consulting engineers to review the short and long-term repairs needed at the site.
Once that plan has been devised, the project will be put out to tender for a contractor to conduct the work.
Repairs are expected to involve replacing the concrete casing of the six pier legs, as well as installing cathodic protection – a technique used to prevent the corrosion of submerged or underground metallic structures.
This mitigates the risk of future corrosion by making the steel legs the negative side of an electrical circuit, while attaching a more easily corroded metal as the positive side of the electrochemical cell.
The present Deal Pier is 1,026 ft (313 metres) long and is the third built on the town’s seafront since 1838.
The first was lost to decay and storm damage in 1857, and the second was destroyed by a ship accidentally crashing into it in 1940.
It took three years to construct the existing one, which was opened by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, in November 1957.
It is considered to be the town’s most iconic landmark and is internationally recognised as an angling venue.
The statue at the entrance, named Embracing the Sea, is three tonnes of bronze and was put in place in 1998.
The pier, along with other parts of Deal, as well as Kingsdown, was a setting for the harrowing ITV crime drama Liar in 2017.
It also featured in the latest series of Unforgotten, another ITV crime drama, which aired earlier this year.
Investment into facilities on the pier has continued over the years, including the opening of a new-look cafe-bar in 2019.
DDC’s cabinet will discuss the finances and repair proposals for the pier on Tuesday.
