With post-Hurricane Ivan red tape and settlement negotiations completed, construction has finally started on the new Gulf State Park Pier.

Barnett Lawley, Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR), and Terry Boyd, Chief Engineer with ADCNR, said the new pier will be worth the wait.

The new pier will be 20 feet wide and 1,512 feet long. It has a concession area with rest rooms, picnic tables, snack bar and tackle shop. About the halfway mark, more restrooms will be built, as well as a saltwater intake structure for the Marine Resources Division to use at its Claude Peteet Mariculture Center on the Intracoastal Waterway. The end of the pier is an octagon shape that is about 65 feet across, whereas the old pier&8217;s end cap was only 30 feet wide.

Boyd said work began on Dec. 3 and the pilings are scheduled for delivery on Dec. 10. The contractor LCI Inc., of Memphis, Tenn., has 15 months to complete the project.

Boyd thoroughly researched other facilities to try to get the best of all of the current pier designs.

The new pier will also be two feet higher with an elevation of 20 feet above sea level, where the old pier was at elevation 18.

The location of the new pier will be 250 feet east of the old pier.

David Rainer is with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.