Plans have been submitted to install a new gate at the front of Shotley Pier as the renovation project continues.
The Shotley Heritage Charitable Community Benefit Society has completed the first phase of the Pier renovation project.
The next project is to install replacement gates at the entrance to the pier.
Grant money the society received for the first phase did not permit the installation of gates, but now, the society has raised funds to install the replacement gates, with hopes they can be installed as soon as possible.
Currently, the front gate is a mesh panel, which is locked to ensure the pier is closed off when the weather is inclement.
The proposed gate will be made up of galvanised steel bar and plate which is meant to last for 25 years before needing repainting, and will be placed on the existing posts opening inwards.
The design on the proposed gate depicts Thames barges, which is a nod to the history of Thames barges mooring adjacent to the pier.
It will also have 'Shotley Pier 1894' written on the top of the gates.
Due to the entrance of the pier being shown on the Environment Agency's Flood Map as being at risk the gates will have drop locks to ensure they are secure when in the open and close position.
The pier reopened to the public again after 30 years in 2021, after the Society bought it in 2017, with renovation works beginning in 2018.
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