By WILLIAM CLARK
The Ocean Grove Pier may partially reopen.
After months of uncertainty Neptune Business Administrator Gina LaPlaca updated the public on the status of the shuttered ocean feature.
The pier, opened just a year ago, sustained damage from severe storms that twice caused it to be closed to the public. The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association and Avakian Engineers recently tapped the McLaren Engineering Group to assess the state of the pier that extends from the boardwalk and over the ocean.
LaPlaca said McLaren sent a letter to the township informing them of their findings.
“The letter confirms their assessment that the upland portion of the pier may be safely reopened as it utilizes previously existing piles that are generally not exposed to normal wave action,” she said.
McLaren is continuing to review original design plans in its overall analysis that include divers that have assessed the pilings that are driven into the ocean floor according to a social media post by the OGCMA.
LaPlaca said a private company will construct a barricade blocking people from accessing the portion of the pier which has not yet been deemed safe.
The new pier, which replaced the one that was destroyed during Superstorm Sandy in 2012, was the result of funds raised by the OGCMA. No public funding was used to construct the pier. Township officials have been routinely questioned about their role in overseeing the pier but have responded that the pier is the property and responsibility of the OGCMA.
When opened in April 2023, OGCMA officials touted the new safety features of the pier that would keep it safe from storms including a significant rise in the deck that would keep it secure from waves. However, six months after it opened the pier sustained wave damage that closed it the first time. Additional pilings were damaged during another storm in December 2023 which has left the pier inaccessible since.
