JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — An Action News Jax investigation into the Jacksonville Beach Pier reveals a timeline for the city to get answers about why it partially collapsed.
The city of Jacksonville has commissioned divers to survey the damage to the Jacksonville Beach Pier.
Weather permitting, divers are scheduled to go out Friday for the inspection.
While the pier is owned by Jacksonville, the city of Jacksonville Beach is staying abreast of the situation.
Jacksonville Beach Mayor Charlie Latham said an initial assessment of the damage has already been completed.
“I'm hopeful that we can get it back up before the start of the next season but I’ve actually heard estimates as long as a year to get it back up,” Latham said.
Action News Jax reported Thursday how the city is looking at the original construction plan to figure out what, if anything, went wrong.
According to the losing bidder for the original project, it was not selected because its design was more expensive than what the city budgeted.
The president of the engineering company that was not selected said while it was built to withstand up to 130 mph winds, wind alone was not a factor in the collapse.
He said wave height was mentioned in the discussion leading up to construction but yet the city told Action News Jax last week that the design specifications did not mention wave height.
“That storm was so powerful it took 350 feet of concrete and moved it into Ponte Vedra,” Latham said.
The wooden panels were meant to pop out during a storm and they did during Hurricane Matthew but the concrete holding them in was supposed to withstand the impact.
It’s unclear right now if errors in the design caused the concrete to give way.
The city of Jacksonville is hoping to at least get partial reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to fix the pier. City leaders said they’re waiting on the diver survey to be completed to set up a meeting with the builder and designer.