Belgium Pier de Blankenberge

Blankenberge's first pier, of cast iron, dates from 1894; it was set on fire by the German occupier in 1915. In 1928 the town decided to buy the pier and the adjoining beach and, in 1931, to finance its reconstruction, entrusted to J. Soete (Bridges and Roads), the Ghent professor Gustave Magnel and the engineer-architect A. Bouquet. The new Art Deco pier, built in reinforced concrete and 350 metres long, partly reuses the foundations and cast-iron pylons of the first; it was inaugurated on 2 July 1933. Concrete rot appeared in the 1980s and the pier was thoroughly renovated between the late 1990s and the early 2000s; it has been listed since 2004.

Translated from the French original.