- April 22, 2024
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The design for the Flagler Beach pier has one main focus: resiliency.
The company leading the design process is Moffatt & Nichol, an infrastructure advisory firm. Gabriel Perdomo, the project manager with Moffatt & Nichol, said that they are looking to preserve as much of the pier as they can and build it with the community in mind.
At the meeting on Jan. 31, Perdomo and the Moffatt & Nichol team were hoping to share the preliminary design with the community and hear their feedback, questions and concerns. The small room in the senior center off of South Daytona Avenue was packed with interested residents.
City Manager William Whitson said the meeting was the first step in a long process.
"We want to get your ideas, your thoughts flowing," Whitson said, "So that we can make this the biggest and best peer that we can in Flagler Beach."
The first 100 feet of the wooden pier will be restored and reinforced, Perdomo said. The remaining 700 feet — assuming FEMA will allow a full rebuild — will be replaced with a concrete pier that meets modern codes and engineering practices and elevated 10 feet, with an interface connecting the original section to the new one.
They are also looking to expand the width of the pier from 20 feet to 25 feet, and add a 20 foot by 32 foot 'T-head' at the end of the pier for fishermen.
"We want to get your ideas, your thoughts flowing. So that we can make this the biggest and best peer that we can in Flagler Beach." — William Whitson, Flagler Beach city manager
The updated design is also meant to withstand rising wave-heights of 100-year storm events. Assistant Project Manager Jackie Brower, a coastal engineer, said that historic storm events have statistically changed how they design piers. Florida has seen eight major storms that FEMA has allocated funding for in the last seven years, Brower said.
Coastal engineers use data from wave events to design their piers. Before 2017, she said, large-scale wave events had a 20-year return — now, they're at a six-year return.
"We do know that intense storms are happening more frequently," Brower said. "Fundamentally, we have to shift our design, as engineers."
Elevating the pier an extra 10 feet — for a 28-foot elevation — keeps the substructure from being submerged by large wave events, Brower said. A 100-year wave event, would almost completely cover the pier at its current height, Perdomo said.
"We want survivability, we don't want to be rebuilding these projects as often as we do," he said.
Moffatt & Nichol is also looking to add break-away decking that will pop off during a wave event, which would protect the substructure from damage and be easier and cheaper to fix afterward, Brower said.
Perdomo said, during construction, they want to minimize environmental, operational and public impacts.
"That includes keeping the Funky Pelican open, that includes consideration of the businesses that are in and around that area during construction," Perdomo said.
The timeline is aggressive. They are concurrently working the designs and permitting processes, placing the project out to bid in January 2024. Perdomo said they hope the project can be under construction by summer 2024 and be complete by the end of 2025.
Perdomo also said they are going to preserve as much of the integrity of the original pier as possible. Not only are they keeping the first 100-feet and iconic A-frame intact, the engraved planks that line the pier now — donated from residents — will not be thrown away.
Instead, the city staff will be trying to return any removed planks to their owners. Some planks have already been lost because of the storms, Whitson said — but even some of the ones ripped away were recovered from the surf and beach after the storms.
"That pier is literally my childhood." — Kee Shell, Ormond Beach resident
Kee Shell, 33, is an Ormond Beach resident, but he said that he has been fishing at this pier since he was 12. Several of his friends and loved ones have engraved planks on that pier, he said, and he's glad to know they won't be tossed aside.
"That means the world," Shell said. "That pier is literally my childhood."
Moffatt & Nichol is also looking at what other options they could add down the line to make the pier better for its residents, Perdomo said. They're considering shading options, fish cleaning stations, options for adding solar or wind-powered energy, under-lighting — even creating a small event space to make the pier more useable for non-fisherman.
Perdomo said that their team hopes to get feedback from the community on these ideas to help finalize design. The team is also looking to host another community meeting in the summer, he said.
