Anglers and tourists who frequent the Jacksonville Beach Pier will have to wait longer than anticipated before they have full access.
WJCT News partner the Jacksonville Daily Record reports the city extended deadlines for planning and reconstruction of the pier at 503 N. First St. in Jacksonville Beach. Officials in the city’s Procurement Division are giving contractors until Aug. 7 to bid on an estimated $8 million in repairs to the pier damaged by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
After receiving no bids by the July 24 deadline, officials reissued a request for proposals last week to remove sections 12 to 25 from the structure and rebuild to its original 34-section length
Nearly half of the pier has been closed for three years. It sustained additional damage in 2017 from Hurricane Irma.
The updated RFP includes three additions that respond to questions from interested bidders Hal Jones Contractors and Superior Construction, both of Jacksonville, and TIC of Savannah, Georgia.
The scope of the project and environmental requirements during construction also led to the city extending the construction timeline.
Procurement officials now anticipate pier work to take up to 780 calendar days, which is more than two years. Contractors responding to the initial RFP said the original 540 calendar day time frame, about 1½ years, was not enough to complete the project.
The RFP addendum states the city anticipates issuing a notice to proceed on construction between September and October. This will push the completion date to November or December 2021.
This is a change from July 10 when they hoped to reopen the pier by May 2021.
The portion of the pier remaining after contractors remove the damaged sections will be closed during construction.
An expanded version of this story is at JaxDailyRecord.
