Survey will find out if cracks on Boscombe Pier have become worse

5:00pm Tuesday 18th September 2012 in News By Melanie Vass

INSPECTION: Boscombe Pier INSPECTION: Boscombe Pier

AN inspection of cracked piles at Boscombe Pier is currently being carried out, with councillors promised a full report within weeks.

Concerns were expressed about the condition of Boscombe Pier just three years after its £2.4million refurbishment, when hairline cracks appeared on the supporting piles.

Contractors Carillion carried out remedial works on two of the piles last year and a condition survey was promised for this summer to check whether any of the cracks had deteriorated.

But this is only being carried out now – prompting one councillor to question whether the council and contractors are serious about resolving the issue.

Independent Cllr Ron Whittaker said: “This survey has been planned for over a year and I just find it strange that they didn’t do it in June, July or August.

“Instead they seem to have waited until the weather has turned and I just hope that doesn’t cause any problems. Members of the council want to see pictures of the piles to see whether there has been any further damage to them and we want a timetable for any remedial works.

“I just feel sometimes we are being fobbed off.”

A council spokesperson confirmed below water and above water surveys at Boscombe and Bournemouth Piers were underway and said there would be more information by the end of September.

They also said the surveys were dependent and weather and tidal conditions.

The council has stressed that any repair costs would not fall upon the taxpayer but would be borne by Carillion.

Comments(25)

ragj195 says...
5:06pm Tue 18 Sep 12

Oh no! My guess is 60 posts for this one with the surf reef mentioned in all but one of them.

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Dorset Logic says...
5:18pm Tue 18 Sep 12

Maybe so,

But I'm betting the surf reef has altered the tide in that area and damaged the pier.

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muscliffman says...
5:24pm Tue 18 Sep 12

And how accountable will the Council Officer in charge of this project and responsible for the quality of the works undertaken by the contractors be held?
Is it the same one who stood by when unsuitable leaking lights were also installed at the time I wonder.
Probable answers anyway; Not accountable, future Town Hall promotion likely and gold-plated pension for life?
And we wonder why these things keep happening.

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wonderway says...
5:37pm Tue 18 Sep 12

the problem with the council is their contracts are only worth shredding and making confetti with. the lights did not have correct standard of wiring for outdoor use and it cost local tax payers £6000 to be corrected. Now the repairs to piles will cost us more, council contracts are just a blank cheque to do shoddy work with out having to rectify it

"They also said the surveys were dependent and weather and tidal conditions.

The council has stressed that any repair costs would not fall upon the taxpayer but would be borne by Carillion."

WHERE HAVE WE SEEN THIS BEFORE OHHH I REMEMBER IT WAS EXCUSE FROM ASR WHEN THEY WERE DOING REEF.

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manyogie says...
5:54pm Tue 18 Sep 12

I,ve got piles on my crack!
Is that the same?

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matt68 says...
6:09pm Tue 18 Sep 12

crack and boscombe go hand in hand!!

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Rally says...
6:54pm Tue 18 Sep 12

'... have become worse'

What happened to 'worsened'.

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Gastines2 says...
6:55pm Tue 18 Sep 12

Obviously learnt how to mix concrete from the Castlepoint Contractors.They don't seem in a hurry to put their shoddy work right either.Probably go bust and then start up under a different name with the same directors and management team.

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sollie says...
7:08pm Tue 18 Sep 12

Crack in Boscombe nothing new here!

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fifty shades of brown envelopes says...
7:35pm Tue 18 Sep 12

the posters on here today are also cracked up
idiots.

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simcal says...
7:55pm Tue 18 Sep 12

fifty shades of brown envelopes wrote:
the posters on here today are also cracked up
idiots.
This is a cracking story, looking forward to many more.

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Bob49 says...
8:50pm Tue 18 Sep 12

Perhaps they could get ASR to come back and survey them, that way the piles will only need a bit of a tweak.


Boscombe Seafront, the Marie Celeste of the south coast.

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Rikaroony says...
9:10pm Tue 18 Sep 12

I think you will find the Crack is under the pier, being enjoyed by the colourful people who frequent there at night :o)

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Yankee1 says...
11:24pm Tue 18 Sep 12

Is there anything, done to or for Boscombe in the last ten years, that has been successful?

Answers on a postcard....

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yesitsmeagain says...
6:55am Wed 19 Sep 12

ah well time to knock it down or flog it to the only people who use it the most ;)

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jobsworthwatch says...
8:08am Wed 19 Sep 12

Whats the point of showing pictures of piles to councilors? The only piles that they will of had any personal experience of will be quite different.
And deservedly so!

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sollie says...
9:19am Wed 19 Sep 12

Must ask a question about the photo is that surfer inspecting the cracks or using the closed non existent surf reef?

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Wesoblind says...
9:25am Wed 19 Sep 12

Maybe it was a boat strike so the contractors wont be liable to repair it?

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HRH of Boscombe says...
10:50am Wed 19 Sep 12

Bob49 wrote:
Perhaps they could get ASR to come back and survey them, that way the piles will only need a bit of a tweak. Boscombe Seafront, the Marie Celeste of the south coast.
Yes I'm sure it's that empty on a sunny day :P

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derek_acorah says...
10:53am Wed 19 Sep 12

Well, this is deffo one of those 'told you so' moments for me. Many times I've stated, here in this very website, that you cant mess around with nature like this. The reef produces, massive, powerful waves, and the local coast and its man made appendages such as the pier, were not designed to take this kind of battering. It would seem that there is a downside to turning Boscombe into Honalulu. Yes you might get a huge influx of surfers all enjoying the huge waves, but the negatives will return to haunt the people who planned this, the same people who until now, have had the satisfaction of thinking the job was well done.

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muscliffman says...
11:48am Wed 19 Sep 12

derek_acorah wrote:
Well, this is deffo one of those 'told you so' moments for me. Many times I've stated, here in this very website, that you cant mess around with nature like this. The reef produces, massive, powerful waves, and the local coast and its man made appendages such as the pier, were not designed to take this kind of battering. It would seem that there is a downside to turning Boscombe into Honalulu. Yes you might get a huge influx of surfers all enjoying the huge waves, but the negatives will return to haunt the people who planned this, the same people who until now, have had the satisfaction of thinking the job was well done.
Presume you are being ironic, 'powerful waves' from this heap of rotting 'reef' sand bags - if only.

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Bob49 says...
12:06pm Wed 19 Sep 12

HRH of Boscombe wrote:
Bob49 wrote:
Perhaps they could get ASR to come back and survey them, that way the piles will only need a bit of a tweak. Boscombe Seafront, the Marie Celeste of the south coast.
Yes I'm sure it's that empty on a sunny day :P
Still far, far less than when there was ample parking space and no double yellow lines everywhere -

still it does keep the place 'exclusive', which was one of Barretts marketing strategies in regard to that development.

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penhale says...
6:51pm Wed 19 Sep 12

The whole of Boscombe is cracking up, not just the pier,

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Tom 'Boscombe' Jones says...
12:28pm Thu 27 Sep 12

Whilst they peer at the pier, maybe they could express grief for the reef.

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Tom 'Boscombe' Jones says...
12:28pm Thu 27 Sep 12

Whilst they peer at the pier, maybe they could express grief for the reef.

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