Jersey Shore amusement pier expansion advances [video]

Crews continue to advance the expansion of a Jersey Shore boardwalk amusement pier that was badly damaged by Superstorm Sandy. 

The expansion of Casino Pier in Seaside Heights began last month. A photo and video by Kevin Doherty of Remote Control Aerial Productions shows the continued northward advance of pilings between the boardwalk and ocean. 

The project is the result of a controversial land swap between the Casino Pier operator and Seaside Heights, resulting in shifting ownership of a 1.36-acre beach parcel from the borough to the pier.

In exchange, Seaside Heights received a parking lot near the boardwalk to potentially house a beloved historic carousel for preservation. 

Beach access advocates lambasted the plan, saying it diminished the public’s ability to access the beach, while proponents argued its necessity to spur tourism.  

Pier owners sought the beach expansion since extending the pier eastward over the ocean — where the Star Jet roller coaster fell into the water and became an international symbol of the superstorm — is too expensive and unrealistic. 

Once completed, the pier will host a variety of new rides. The land once occupied by Funtown Pier, located to the south in both Seaside Park and Seaside Heights, remains undeveloped after suffering extensiv damage from Sandy and then fully destroyed in the September 2013 boardwalk fire.