Officials: Buckroe pier repair costs may hit $1 million mark
Estimates start at $750,000 and 6 months time
HAMPTON — Repairs to the James T. Wilson fishing pier at Buckroe Beach could have a price tag as high as $1 million, Hampton officials said Monday.
The cost estimates range from $750,000 to $1 million to restore and rebuild the popular pier damaged in November after a barge crashed into it, causing a section to collapse into the Chesapeake Bay.
Initial assessments by city engineers showed the price to stabilize the building and remove debris could run over $98,000, city spokeswoman Robin McCormick said via email.
Details are still being hashed out, as the designs are not finalized, but it would take an estimated six months to complete the work.
Hampton hasn’t said when that work would begin or the name of the contractor doing the repairs. The barge, owned by Coastal Design and Construction, had been just north of Buckroe Beach because of dredging and ongoing repairs to jetties at Salt Ponds inlet.
On Nov. 17, Hampton police received calls in the pre-dawn hours about a floating barge. On the windy Sunday morning, the barge, pushed by gale-force gusts and churning waves, became unattached from its moorings, drifted and crashed into the James T. Wilson Fishing pier, officials said.
The collision, which created a spectacle, damaged the 709-foot mostly wooden pier, including causing a section to sink.
First reponders on the scene that Sunday secured the barge after it hit the pier. By Monday afternoon, a tug boat from Gloucester arrived and hauled the barge away.
In June, Hampton had awarded Coastal Design $2.3 million to do repairs and replace aging jetties at the Salt Pond Beach inlet.