Works to repair historic pier 'not gone to plan'

Works to restore a historic pier which was badly damaged by strong waves and stormy weather has "not gone according to plan", a city council has said.

The eastern section of West Hoe Pier in Plymouth collapsed during Storm Bram in December 2025, whilst undergoing strengthening work to infill the interior after the stones within it had been washed out to sea over many years.

Plymouth City Council said the project to restore the Grade II listed pier was getting "back on track" following the incident and winter "is very much on our mind".

It said a wet winter, with the El Niño weather pattern forecast was "not an issue" but warned high winds could be "troublesome".

Plymouth City Council said the pier, which was built in the 1880s, had been subject to many repairs due to storm damage.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service had previously reported the cost of the emergency repair work caused by Storm Bram, which involved pouring about 300 tonnes (300,000kg) of concrete into the pier to close the large hole, would total about £1 million.

The council said over the summer it had been pointing the outer walls to help make them stronger, along with extensive investigations of the past remediation which included site sampling.

The authority said a 2019 investigation showed a "degradation of material" and although some "may have stabilised", it needed to find out its full extent.

The expanding grout material was excavated to the fracture line, which it said was "very hard" as it was about "three times stronger than standard concrete".

That difficulty "delayed the process which left us exposed to the winter storms", it added.

The council said the "immediate intention" was to complete the pointing works, utilising the late large spring tides, for further sampling and stabilising the stone reveals "to be as ready for the winter weather as we can be".

It said there was "no intention to work through the winter".

Other works planned included dismantling and reconstructing face stonework in three areas, reinstating masonry, reconstructing existing stone steps, using modern inert grout at lower levels and fibre-reinforced concrete infill at higher levels to stabilise the pier core.

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