KEANSBURG, N.J. – A powerful surge of bay ice ripped apart a section of the historic Keansburg Fishing Pier late Monday night, sending a 100- to 200-foot portion of the 2,000-foot structure floating into the frigid waters of the Raritan Bay, officials said.
The partial collapse occurred Tuesday morning by what is being described as a “sea of ice pressing against the pier.”
The structure, a centerpiece of the Bayshore waterfront since the early 1900s, has withstood more than a century of storms — but the combination of subfreezing temperatures, shifting tides, and thick ice proved too much this week.
The privately owned pier, operated by the Gehlhaus family along with the adjacent Keansburg Amusement Park and Runaway Rapids Waterpark, has a long history of resilience.
It was originally constructed around 1904 as part of a seaside destination for visitors arriving from New York City by steamboat. Generations of locals and tourists have fished, strolled, and taken in skyline views from the wooden span.
This week’s collapse marks the latest challenge for the century-old landmark. The pier was severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, when a six-foot wall of water devastated the waterfront. It was rebuilt between 2013 and 2014 with reinforced pilings and decking meant to resist future storms. Despite those improvements, this winter’s icy assault caused the structure to fail once again.
Local officials said the collapse affected the outer “A section” of the pier, leaving large timbers and decking adrift in the bay. Engineers will inspect the remaining structure in the coming days to determine the extent of the damage and assess whether it remains stable.
- Roughly 100 to 200 feet of the Keansburg Fishing Pier collapsed into Raritan Bay.
- Thick ice and strong tides caused the failure late Monday night.
- The pier, first built in 1904, was rebuilt after Superstorm Sandy and likely could be repaired again.
