GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — A major $8.25 million construction project led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will shut down the North Pier in Grand Haven for three summer seasons to replace the aging structure and combat shoreline erosion.
WATCH: Grand Haven North Pier to close for two years for construction
The project, expected to last through 2028, involves demolishing the entire 325-foot structure. A portion will be replaced with a wave attenuator to help reduce waves and prevent erosion upstream.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Grand Haven Operations Manager Liz Wilkinson said the work is necessary.
"The last major maintenance at the North pier for Grand Haven was in the 1950s so the structure is due for an upgrade," Wilkinson said.
Ferrysburg City Manager Craig Bessinger told me they have been working to preserve the shoreline, which has consistently receded for the past 20 years, retreating 260 feet in that time.
"There's a board that oversees that dune preserve, and a year or two ago, they spent some money to try to slow down the erosion along the cove," Bessinger said. "We want to protect that land as much as we can."
Wilkinson told me work on the pier will not impact the Coast Guard Festival or other federal holidays, but it could impact access to the beach for people living nearby.
"People that own property along the lakeshore. They can really start to feel like they own it. The lake is owned by the government, and the lake bottom lands are owned by the government," Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson also pointed out that the best configuration to reduce waves is to have attenuators on both sides of the channel, but said there are currently no plans to install one on the South Pier.
As the work is heavily weather dependent, they are expecting construction to get started in mid-April.
