Repaired SLO County pier reopens ahead of schedule — after storm damage closed it in 2023
The storm-damaged San Simeon Pier was set to reopen to the public Friday, after a mostly mild winter allowed crews to finish five months of repairs a few weeks ahead of schedule.
No ceremony was planned to mark the completion of work, which was estimated at $3.6 million, Dan Falat told The Tribune Thursday night.
“I think the pier will speak for itself,” the superintendent of State Parks’ San Luis Obispo Coast District said.
“We’d planned to reopen sometime in March,” depending on progress made by construction crews, he said. “We’ve been very fortunate weather-wise this year.”
The pier had been closed for more than a year.
“Mother Nature is mighty in how she works,” Falat added. “It was a mild winter, and we have beautiful, 70-degree days in the forecast. Everybody wanted the pier reopened as soon as possible … our visitors, residents and the businesses of San Simeon.”
The popular pier is in the heart of William Randolph Hearst Memorial Beach park, right off Highway 1 and across from Hearst Castle.
Pier visitors stroll along the dog-legged structure, fishing, watching for birds, whales and other sea life, seeing dramatic sunsets and observing beautiful 360-degree views of the coastline, Santa Lucia hills and the sea.
The timing was right, the park superintendent said, with spring break and the spring season right around the corner.
Many elements of the San Simeon Pier had to be replaced
Several years of punishing winter storms had bashed the San Simeon Pier, making it unsafe.
State Park rangers closed the pier on Oct. 6, 2023, immediately after discovering that two of three long support pylons from the pier deck to the ocean floor were missing.
Other piers in the county also took a beating, including in Cayucos and Pismo Beach.
Cushman Contracting Corp. of Goleta did the work to fix the San Simeon Pier.
Repairs included replacing missing or deteriorated pier piles with fiberglass-reinforced polymer pipe piles, replacing damaged pile caps, missing or damaged bracing and damaged stringers and blocking, then installing all new deck boards, curbs and handrails, plus a new waterline with wharf hydrants on the pier.
This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 10:06 AM.
