Southport Pier: High Price of Penny Pinching Exposed
The current Pier problems could have been avoided according to opposition leader on Sefton, Cllr John Pugh, had Sefton followed properly engineering consultants' advice.
Sefton Council received a detailed report from engineering consultants Mott McDonald in 2014 recommending that as a matter of urgency the Pier metal structure should be recoated by 2017.
Sefton failed to comply with that advice, but in 2017 obtained funding from the government’s Coastal Community Fund and began a £2.9M project that was described at the time as "the full structural refurbishment of the existing steel structure”. Council leader ,Marion Atkinson stated back in 2017 that “ the works on Southport Pier will truly transform the area.” https://taziker.com/media/news/taziker-industrial-2-9m-revamp-project-at-southport-pier/
Roll forward to 2024 and the Council is currently expecting a new report that will show that large parts of the metal structure supporting the planks will need replacing at great cost, though happily the pillars supporting the Pier are sound.
"People will wonder how a 'fully refurbished steel structure’ can end up in such a state after only 7 years,” says Cllr Pugh, “but it looks like a classic case of penny wise - pound foolish.
Repairs were probably left too late but more importantly the big mistake was to ignore the advice of Mott McDonald and try to recoat the cross beam structure on site where all parts aren’t accessible and can’t be properly treated.
Added to which by exposing bare metal during any treatment in a seaside environment, there is the risk that salt can get under the coating , making the problem actually worse.
We are all bearing the cost of false economy and poor decision making
In the 4 years before the 2017 'full refurbishment of the existing steel structure’, Sefton’s average net spend on Pier (taking into account the income made from Pier concessions) was less than £10,000 a year.
We are all now going to pay a high price for penny pinching.”