The Cape Henlopen fishing pier reopened Wednesday morning after over a year of repairs.
It's the largest – and most used – fishing pier in the First State.
Built in the early 1940s by the Army, it was originally used to unload cargo, and supply boats dropping mines at the mouth of the Delaware Bay during World War II to keep German U-boats away from shipping channels and industrial infrastructures up-river.
But damage over the years made significant repairs necessary. Around 100 of the round wooden support beams known as piling have been replaced, as well as the decking bolted on top of those structures.
Gov. Jack Markell was among those welcoming the pier’s reopening Wednesday, just in time for Memorial Day weekend.
"It’s great to see the pier reopened," Markell said. "It’s a really important part of our beautiful state park. It’s in very high demand and it’s great to see it’s back and that all of the people can enjoy it this summer."
But DNREC Secretary David Small says that while these first ever major repairs to the pier were extensive, it’s life expectancy remains limited.
“Eventually we’re going to have to rebuild this thing or just abandon it, but this repair was pretty extensive and we hope it buys us a number of years to plan for the future,” Small said.
Small estimates the repairs could keep the pier in use for 3-5 more years, depending on the severity of future coastal storms and the amount of ice that accumulates on it during the winter.
He says that as the tip of Cape Henlopen continues to grow due to the tidal activity in the area, more and more sand is filling in around that elbow and inside the area.
This creates shallower water, perhaps not conducive to a fishing pier like the current one at Cape Henlopen.
“We’re a number of years away from that, but if we’re thinking 10 or 20 million in a new pier that’s certainly one of the things we want to look at," Small said. "Does it make sense to consider building an ocean pier?”
Currently, Delaware does not have an ocean pier. Small says conversations about potential locations – and detailed plans – of such a pier are just getting underway and he estimates that planning process will continue for at least the next couple of years.
Gov. Jack Markell also declared June 5 Delaware State Parks Day, with all state parks open to the public free of charge that day.
