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17 May – 30 May 2012
MPNEWS (1300 676 397) or email: team@mpnews.com.au www.mpnews.com.au
$15m to finish pier Wave screens make harbour 70% safer
Under cover: Ports Minister Dennis Napthine provides a bit of shelter to Mornington MP David Morris on Monday after announcing that money was available to complete the restoration of the pier. Picture: Yanni
By Mike Hast THE state government will spend $15 million to rebuild the outer 75 metres of Mornington Pier. The grant announced on Monday by Minister for Ports Dennis Napthine and Mornington MP David Morris is the lion’s share of $23 million allocated in the state budget earlier this month for “critical local port infrastructure upgrades�. The news has been welcomed by boaties, environmentalists and traders, with Mr Morris singled out for praise for getting the money during tight economic times. The grant includes money to install wave screen panels on the middle, 53-metre section rebuilt between August 2010 and September 2011 (work ceased mid-December 2010 to 1 February 2011 to enable walkers and anglers to use the pier). The rebuilt outer section also will have wave screens. Mornington Yacht Club’s Kevin Donnellan said it was a great result for the community and would make “70 per cent of the harbour safe�. The club and other harbour users have been lobbying government for almost 30 years to protect Mornington from big northerly storms. Two events in 1983 and 2008 sunk or washed onto beaches and rocks more than 30 boats each time. In February, Mornington Peninsula Shire rejected the yacht club’s plan to build a 197-boat marina in the harbour, which would have included a 210-metre wave screen running off at an angle from the pier’s end. Mr Donnellan said the club still wanted a wave wall “at least 50 to 80 metres long�. “We’d still like a refuelling facility, a pump out system for waste water from boats and a place for Volunteer Marine Rescue Mornington, coast guard and water police boats.� Mornington Environment Association president Jan Oliver welcomed the news. The harbour would be more sheltered from storms, she said. “Now we have to trust construction will not disturb the unique sea life under the pier.� Ms Oliver, a founder of the Marine Education Society of Australasia, said diving at the pier was one of the great experiences in Port Phillip. “We are lucky to have all these marine treasures – and
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the pier, especially in this International Year of Marine Biodiversity.� When completed, the government will have spent about $18.5 million on the pier since August 2010. It was closed in April 2010 after a storm damaged piles and dislodged about 100 top deck planks. Two more storms in August and September – with winds of more than 60 knots – further weakened the iconic structure, a form of which has served the town for more than 150 years. In August 2010, Parks Victoria contractor K V Johnson Constructions of Carrum Downs started work on the middle, 53-metre section. It was scheduled to be completed by December, which was revised to April 2011 and then July. The delay was caused by bad weather. This work cost $3.5 million and involved replacing old wooden pylons with concrete ones and installing a three-piece reinforced concrete deck with timber planks on top. When the middle section was reopened to the public last winter, the outer section was left unconnected to the new section. In June 2011, The News reported the outer section was in danger of collapsing after engineers found 20 per cent of piles had failed or were about to fail and were not supporting the top deck. About half of the remaining 80 per cent were in “average condition� and the outer section was one big storm away from irreparable damage. Dr Napthine said “the full reconstruction of the 75-metre outer section and the installation of wave screens along the pier’s full 123-metre length� would provide protection for boaters. He said Victoria’s local ports were an important part of the state economy, generating more then $550 million each year through tourism, commercial fishing and recreational boating. The scope of the work has not been decided, but the outer section has about 125 piles. Divers would be hoping the work includes stairs and a platform near the water, items omitted when the middle section was rebuilt due to higher than expected costs. No date for completion of the work has been set.
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