Ocean City project required mighty long pilings to support high-flying fun
OCEAN CITY — It’s going to be the biggest jungle gym in Ocean City, so it’s no surprise it required some huge pilings.
Pilings aren’t unusual when it comes to constructing foundations on this barrier island, but the ones that will be holding up TJ Heist’s latest family-fun project required not only an experienced installer but an installer to assist the installer.
Heist is having The Yard constructed on the 700 block of West Avenue. It will be an outdoor netted playground/adventure park geared to children ages 3 to 12.
“All these poles we’re putting in are going to support nets up in the sky, two, three stories tall. And then it’s a jungle gym. Kids climb around in it, go down little soft slides in there,” he said. “Then on the ground level it’s all going to be turfed with picnic tables, umbrellas, yard games, things like that for the parents.”
So, a jungle gym on steroids?
“That’s what a lot of people have said,” Heist added, laughing.
“It’s something new. There’s nothing like this in the area. You have the rides on the boardwalk and we have the aqua park on the bay, but there is nothing geared toward that age group,” he said. “They can spend a couple of hours here. The parents can watch from down below or they can go up in the net.
“Inside we’re doing a golf and sports simulator as well so parents can go in, hit a golf ball, kids can play soccer on it. We’re trying to make something for the whole family during the day.”
The Yard should be open by the end of May, beginning of June.
The pilings were installed on Valentine’s Day and last week the company that builds the netted playground began its work.
“It will be six weeks to do that and from there it is just finishing it out with landscaping and turf. We should be ready for summer,” Heist said.
Coastal Marine was installing the pilings but brought in a competitor, Atlantic Marine, to back it up.
Owner Kim Styer said her company was capable of handling many of the pilings but couldn’t handle the larger ones so she called in Atlantic Marine, owned by Ed Thomas.
“We couldn’t get the reach on some of these other poles,” she said. “Atlantic Marine backed us up. It’s a good combined effort with a competitor.”
Those 28 pilings being installed ranged in length from 40, 45 and 50 feet tall to a couple that were 65 feet and one that was 70, Styer said.
“This is something new for all of us,” she added.
“These are the kind of pilings we’re used to putting in, but not the length,” Styer said, referring to the longest ones.
Coastal Marine and Atlantic Marine wrapped up their work on the project in one day.
Design on the project is by Arthur Chew.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff