A £1 million budget for “urgent” repairs to Deal Pier has been approved – to help ensure the historic structure survives for decades to come.
Dover District Council (DDC) voted in favour of the major works after surveys found storm damage to six of the concrete legs, exposing steel below.
The authority’s cabinet met on Monday to make the decision.
A DDC officer explained that repairs to the access stairs to the lower deck and overhead beams with missing concrete were successfully completed in autumn and winter last year, at a cost of £140,000.
However, boat surveys in spring highlighted the need for “urgent” work to the concrete legs of the pier, saying they need to “replace all of the missing concrete as soon as reasonably practical”.
“On closer inspection the exposed steel and loss of thickness was found to be no more than one millimetre, with the general structure being rated fair to good condition,” he continued.
“Given the structure is over 70 years old this is good news.”
Officers explained that they wanted approval for the £1 million – which will come from the authority’s medium-term financial plan budget – after which they will put out a contract to tender for the concrete repairs.
They will then assess whether they can also afford cathodic protection, a technique used to prevent the corrosion of submerged or underground metallic structures.
“Cathodic protection could potentially prolong the life by 20-25 years, so depending on the cost of the replacement of the concrete legs it’s probably a sensible thing for us to do,” an officer explained.
“What we’d like to do is just test the market, see what prices come back.”
DDC chief executive Nadeem Azeez added: “The concrete repairs are clearly the necessary bit, and the cathodic protection is an enhancement.
“Probably just doing the concrete repairs would certainly give it another 30, 40 or 50 years of life, cathodic protection will give it a bit more.”
The process will also involve diving inspections of the legs’ connections to the seafloor to check their condition.
DDC deputy leader Cllr Edward Biggs (Lab) added: “The damage to the steel has been very minimal which is amazing.
“It’s an asset of the district that is much loved by many people.
“The style and design of it is brutalist architecture which is much loved by some people and others are not so sure.”
The cabinet voted unanimously to approve the budget.
The decision will be discussed at next week’s overview and scrutiny committee, and the matter will return to the cabinet in future once contracts have been tendered.
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.
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.
