Crews demolish historic Monterey Bay pier, in danger of collapse after January storm damage

SAN JOSE, Calif. — In the final chapter for one of the most venerable landmarks along Monterey Bay, crews with excavators and other heavy equipment on Monday tore apart the 500-foot-long wooden pier at Seacliff State Beach in Aptos. Popular with generations of beachgoers and anglers, the pier, built in 1930, was best known as the connection between sweeping sandy beaches of Santa Cruz County and the SS Palo Alto, a Word War I-era steamship widely called the “cement ship.” The wooden pier was severely damaged by huge waves during storms on Jan. 5, and was in imminent danger of collapse, state p...