Ventura Pier

Ventura Pier. Fun Facts. , Dimensions , Pier length in 2001: 1,600’ , Original pier length in 1872: 1,200’ , Longest pier length in 1938: 1,958’ , Pier width: 25’6” - 67’8” , Water depth at pier end: 23 feet at 0 tide , Number of ocean piers in California: over 100 from Crescent City to Imperial Beach , Pilings , Timber pilings now used: Douglas Fir , Timber pilings first used: Eucalyptus , First pile driver: 1800-lb. steam operated pile driver , Most recent pile driver: hydraulic ram with 18,000 foot-pounds of energy, deck mounted on a 45-ton crane , How deep timber and steel pilings are driven into ocean floor: 12-20’ and 30’ respectively , Statistics for pier timber pilings: 439 of varying length and weight, but average 75’ long piling weighs 2,600 pounds, with 10-16” diameter , Statistics for pier steel pilings: 90, each 72-80’ long, weighing 6,400-6,600 pounds, with 16” diameter , Total number of pier pilings: 529 , Pier's Many Uses , Heyday as commercial wharf: 1872 to 1914 , Chief products shipped from pier: wheat, citrus, lima beans, seaweed, cattle, pigs, crude oil , Chief products off-loaded onto pier: lumber, bricks, cement , Last time cargo unloaded: lumber in 1940 , Past and present restaurants on pier: Seaview Caf, Pier Fish House, Eric Ericssons Fish Co. , Formerly on pier: Ventura County Boat Club, Sea Scouts, Coast Guard Auxiliary, Civil Air Patrol , Biggest celebrations at pier: thousands attended Navy Day in 1936, pier reopening in 1993 , Deck , Number and size of spikes per 16 deck board: 18 spikes, each 8" long with 3/8" diameter , Wood deck constructed of: Douglas Fir , Number of timber planks on deck: 4,285 , Deck slope: gradually rises 4’ at end of pier , Deck elevation above water at 0 tide: starts 25.2’; ends 29.2’ , Challenges to Pier Preservation , Piers greatest enemies: fire, ships, storm waves, beach erosion , Piers smallest enemies: shipworms (boring clams) and gribbles (tiny crustaceans) that eat wood pilings , Water zone repellants used against borers: creosote preservatives and polyethylene wrappings , Above water surface repellants: ACZA preservative for piling caps, stringers and deck , Tons of steel bracing for storm waves: 13.6 , Ship collisions with pier: SS Coos Bay in 1914 , Ships burnt at pier: SS W.L. Hardison, world's first oil tanker, in 1889 , Years pier (wholly/partly) destroyed by storms or fire: 1877, 1926, 1935 (fire), 1937, 1949, 1969, 1983, 1997 , How often pier reconstructed: 6 times in 1878, 1928, 1936, 1938, 1993, 2000 , Cost and duration of original construction: $45,000 and 5 months, March 2 to October 5, 1872 , Cost and duration of 2000 reconstruction: $2.2 million and 9 months from August 1, 1999 to March 31, 2000 , First dedicated by: Arcadia Camarillo on May 18, 1872 broke bottle of California wine over first piling , End of pier dedicated to: Don and Edna Mills (Mills End) on April 1, 2000