Work begins on new Bay County pier

PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL - Work has begun on the county's new M.B. Miller Pier near the south end of Alf Coleman Road.
   
County capital projects manager Fred Brown said the 1,500-foot pier, a twin companion to the city pier now under construction near Pier Park, should be completed by late summer 2010.
   
The city pier is expected to open in July.
   
"This will be something the county has never had before," County Commissioner Mike Thomas sid. "It will be real nice to have a good, long fishing pier."
   
Both piers are being constructed by the same company, Shoreline Foundation Inc., and were bid out as mirrored $7.6 million companions to each other. When completed, the two piers are expected to be the longest along Northwest Florida.
   
The old 470-foot county pier, irreparably damaged by Hurricane Dennis in 2005, was torn down last year.
   
Brown said the new structure will feature an apron and deck at its north end and be 17 feet wide as it stretches out into the Gulf of Mexico.