Southend Pier: Born again

Southend Pier in Essex has had its fair share of fires and boat strikes but the one that hit the old pier head in 2005 was devastating, destroying its railway station, pub, gift shop, amusement arcade, toilets, takeaway outlets, and part of the restaurant along the Old Pier Head and South station sections.

The pier runs 2.14km south into the sea from Southend seafront. A train runs along most of its length but stops at the south station at the pier head. The pier then continues with the new pier head and the Prince George pier Extension.

When Nuttall John Martin − a subsidiary of Bam Nuttall − came to site to start repair work in September 2008, there was not much more to that section of pier left apart from the remains of the piles sticking up from the sea. The Old Pier Head that had been completely destroyed.

Repairing and rebuilding

At 2.14km long, Southend Pier is the longest pleasure pier in the world. The cast iron and timber pier was built in the late 1800s to replace an existing timber structure and was extended twice at the height of its popularity at the turn of the last century. It is so long, that it has its own train line which runs the length of the pier.

“About five years ago, there was a fire,” says Nuttall John Martin site agent Lloyd Wicken.

“The railway station, the fish and chip shop, the pub and the arcade all burned down.”

Lloyd Wicken, Nuttall John Martin

“The railway station, the fish and chip shop, the pub and the arcade all burned down. It took everything to the pile level. The high tide put it out.”

Nuttall John Martin is now coming to the end of its £2.4M programme, which involves repairing the timber and cast iron structure, reinstalling decking and railway track and rebuilding the train station at the end of the pier. This is due for completion next month.

The main length of the pier is supported by cast iron screw piles. They are connected laterally by tie rods and bracing. But the south face of the Old Pier Head part way along the now extended pier is slightly different with Greenheart timber piles driven about 15m down into the London Clay. These timber and cast iron piles were all that were left after the fire and have been reused in the reconstruction.

“We had to cut away the tops of timber piles and extend them. Then we replaced all the timber that had burnt away.”

Lloyd Wicken, Nuttall John Martin

“To start with there were just stumps sticking up,” says Wicken. Even though there was no trace of the pier decking left, horizontal ties between the piles remained and Nuttall John Martin was able to use these ties on which to secure a 9m long temporary walkway.

From the walkway, workers could access the pile heads, remove what was there and place new beams. Once one bay − the area between each set of piles − was complete, the walkway was moved to the next.

“We had to take fire damaged beams off and put new beams on,” says Wicken.

Height extensions also had to be added to the timber piles, to bring them back up to the level of the pier deck. The extra height was added with a section of timber and splice jacket which is a type of metal connection.

“Changing the steel for timber offered a cost saving.”

Ben Goodman, Nuttall John Martin

“We had to cut away the tops of timber piles and extend them with splice jacket and timber,” says Wicken. “We extended the level by 256mm. Then we replaced all the timber that had burnt away”

Where possible, steel beams were replaced with timber.

“Changing the steel for timber offered a cost saving,” says Nuttall John Martin assistant engineer Ben Goodman. “At the time of procurement steel prices were high with the strong pound against the euro, which the timber was bought in, meant the timber was the cheaper option.

“Using timber bearers also allowed standardised deck panels to be prefabricated offsite, speeding up the decking process and reducing the risks of laying planks at height over water.”

Secondary beams at 1.3m centres were screwed to panels of decking. About half of the decking area was laid down using this method.

One of the biggest challenges was transporting materials from suppliers to site. Nuttall John Martin hired a quay at nearby Leigh-on-Sea and a 100t Thames lighter barge to get supplies to site. But it had to make sure deliveries coincided with high tide, at the quay and at the site.

Meticulous coordination

“We towed out the barge for deliveries,” says Wicken. “The barge leaves Leigh and has about an hour and a half travelling time. The wharf dries out so you have to plan delivery times, to get the high water at site and then get back in time. We have a mooring buoy if we don’t manage to get the barge back in time, but that puts 12 hours on the turnaround time.”

“The wharf dries out so you have to plan delivery times, to get the high water at site and then get back in time.”

Lloyd Wicken, Nuttall John Martin

The lifting of material and equipment on site has been serviced by a 50t crawler crane with a 31m boom on board a jack up barge, which could be moved depending on which area is being worked on. The barge can take around a day to move from one area to another so it is important to plan work to minimise doubling back.

“There are lots of pockets in the sea bed [where the barge legs can get stuck],” says Wicken. “We have to jack the barge down at low tide and use the buoyancy of the crane to pull it out. Then a tug comes just before high tide. It all needs coordination.”

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