OB Pier steps to get makeover

The Ocean Beach Pier gets roughly 500,000 people visiting each year, so its no surprise that after fifty-plus years, the stairs leading up from the pier parking lot at the foot of Niagara Avenue have taken a beating and are in need of repair.

The stairs were closed from April 2-6 in efforts to stop the rebar on the steps from rusting and busting.

Steve, one of the workers on scene, explained the process to me.

“The rebar in the noses [overhangs] of the steps, because of the moisture down here closer to the ocean, it causes the rebar to take it in then it starts to rust, so what happened is, it made the concrete pop because it was rusted.”

Although some of the steps are not popping yet, all are going to be repaired.

“It went all the way across here (length of step), it just got rusted and caused the concrete to swell, see that crack right there, eventually they are going to swell and pop too…so later we’re going to apply epoxy and a special mortar, so when you pour the concrete in next to the epoxy and it grabs it and makes it bond…We’re just trying to repair the steps so they are safe again.”