San Diego Investigates the Crumbling State of Its Piers

NBC 7 San Diego Investigates: The Deteriorating State of San Diego's Beloved Coastal Piers

*San Diego, California, September 2026* — San Diego's iconic coastal piers — beloved landmarks that draw millions of visitors, fishermen, surfers, and sightseers each year — are facing a growing infrastructure crisis, according to a new investigative report from NBC 7 San Diego. The "State of Our Piers" segment, accompanied by archival footage from 2024 showing one of the city's wooden piers stretching out into the sparkling Pacific under clear blue skies, raises urgent questions about the safety, maintenance, and long-term future of these cherished community assets.

San Diego is home to several historic piers along its stunning coastline, including the well-known Ocean Beach Pier — the longest concrete pier on the West Coast — as well as the Imperial Beach Pier and others that serve as focal points for coastal communities up and down the county. For generations, these structures have been gathering places for families, anglers, and tourists, embedded deeply in the cultural identity of San Diego's beach neighborhoods.

However, decades of exposure to saltwater, relentless wave action, marine organisms, and the general wear of time have taken a significant toll on pier infrastructure across the region. Structural assessments have flagged concerns about the integrity of wooden pilings, decking, and support systems on several piers, raising questions about whether current maintenance funding and schedules are adequate to keep these structures safe for public use.

The cost of pier rehabilitation and reconstruction can run into the tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars — figures that strain municipal budgets already under pressure from competing infrastructure priorities. Advocates for pier preservation argue that the economic and cultural value these structures bring to coastal communities far outweighs the cost of maintaining them properly.

Community members, local businesses that depend on pier foot traffic, and environmental groups are all calling on city and county officials to prioritize pier safety assessments and commit to sustainable, long-term maintenance funding plans.

*San Diego's piers are more than wood and concrete — they are the soul of the coastline, and they deserve to be saved.*