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22 September – 5 October 2011
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Partly there: Mornington MP David Morris is looking forward to the reopening of Mornington pier, although safety concerns mean the end section could remain closed for two years.
October opening for pier MORNINGTON pier will next month be again open to the public. However, the outer 70 metres will be closed for at least another two years. Closed since April 2010 to repair storm damage, the 53-metre timber centre section has been replaced by concrete supported on steel pylons at a cost of $3.65 million. Mornington MP David Morris said the more than $8 million needed to
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complete the pier was unlikely to make the government’s budget until 2013. Mr Morris described the repaired section of the pier as “looking fantastic� after an inspection on Monday. He said Parks Victoria had begun “preliminary planning� to repair the rest of the pier “but there’s no money in the budget�. “When built, it will still have the ramp and be made of concrete with
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steel pylons,� he said. A councillor and president of the former Shire of Mornington, Mr Morris said he remembered seeing plans in 1987-88 that showed 65-70 per cent of the wooden pylons “marked red because they weren’t reaching the sea floor�. “It’s been fixed about three times since then, but it was a process of patching.
“When all the work is finally done the pier will have a life of 50 years.� Mr Morris said rebuilding the middle section of the pier in such an exposed location had been a “major feat of engineering and construction for Parks Victoria and its contactors with 70 steel piles replacing the degraded timber piles and a new reinforced concrete deck�. “Construction was further compli-
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cated by the need to drive the new steel piles into existing rocks beneath the pier, requiring heavy pile-driving machinery.� Mr Morris said the past 12 months have been a difficult time for construction with wild weather and storms delaying projects across the state. He said wave screens would be installed on the centre section of the pier.
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