The Pier

[fbcota]

Well, its time to go big.

I'm building a 300ft long south east asian style pier next year. About 6ft wide and 300ft long, it will start on the playa and rise at about a 2.5 degree angle making the end about 12 ft tall. The pier itself will be built from a mix of new wood (for the frame itself) new and old poles and reclaimed decking and wood to give it an old, 3rd world feeling.

There should be benches, fishing poles, ropes, nets ,old broken boats "half-burried" in the playa, crab traps, bells and maybe even a viewfinder. Its kinda on theme, but for me its more of a location. A large part of a temporary autonomous zone. A meeting spot. A large shade structure. A place for ferry service. A party. Some hippie fishing. Whatever the community can come up with.

Thoughts? (I'm about 90% on building it, just want to make it as cool as possible within my feeble budget)

[thirt33n]

sounds like a place i'll be swingin' my legs off of. i like it a lot. maybe we'll get a flood!

can you consider a stuffed seagull anywhere? perched atop a pylon maybe?
an old tire half sticking out of Lahontan's old floor?

300ft. that is big.
i'm planning on bringing a small installation for playa placement for the first time too. ....i've got some ideas.

looking forward to the pier.

[fbcota]

Seagulls are great ideas. Along with tires too. I'm hoping there will be lots more people prone to sit and swing there legs with you!

[theCryptofishist]

2.5 degree angle is what rise to a foot?

[thirt33n]

fishy, you can swing your "fins" with me on the pier.

my abacus is broken though...so i can't answer that.

the whole slow rise thing is going to be REALLY cool. someone's going to ride their bike right off of it.

[theCryptofishist]

Okay, 300 ft/12 ft
50/2
25/1
So each rise of a foot takes place over 25 feet of length?
12 inches in a foot, so the rise is less than half an inch for each foot.
Easy peasy...Way beyond the ada standards.

[thirt33n]

smrt

[theCryptofishist]

well, thanks.

Some of it is knowing a few tricks.
I'm expecting someone to come along and correct my work.

[VeganChoirGirl]

Awesome. Love it.

[fbcota]

Yay! I needed to hear this feedback. :). Its by far my biggest project and I just needed a bit of moral support, I guess its time to build the team.

theCryptofishist: The rise is extremely shallow, I wanted the pier to look as flat as possible. I also wanted the height to sneak up on you. Kinda like, "ohh look a boardwalk,..." (walk for 10 min),... "wahhh, Im 12 feet up!" I remember as a kid growing up looking at all the piers out of the water in the lake and being hypnotised how they just seemed to grow out of the shoreline. Plus, having that small rise means a good friend can finally enjoy my art without the help of someone else (that is if she has her chair in the golf cart).

Ohh, I really hope people ride their bikes on it. And I hope they are responsible enough not to drive it off the side. I am debating rails, but I REALLY don't want too. Part of the allure to me of the pier is that its not completely safe.

My only big concern at the moment is that the pier kinda makes a giant wall that art cars have to drive around.

[theCryptofishist]

Plus, having that small rise means a good friend can finally enjoy my art without the help of someone else (that is if she has her chair in the golf cart).

Yes!
Don't know your friend, but I'm in the same boat golfcart.

And fcuk the mvs. They can go around!

[Kiro]

Am gonna dangle my legs off the end and go raver fishing with glowsticks.

[Funkpocket]

I'll be baiting my hook with a dusty black top hat

[Funkpocket]

Under the Pier would be a great space.

[thirt33n]

fbcota-
i think you've got a real winner here.
i say no rails...but whatever. it will be great.

[fbcota]

Ohh, the raver fishing is on like donkey kong.

I plan on finding a bunch of fishing poles and sitting them in some barrels on the pier. I'm also hoping to find at least one fishing net. You could throw a bunch of Glow sticks down and wait for a whole group, then "bam" hit them with the net! Ohh, I also want to have some large measuring stick so you can size your captured raver/hippie and maybe throw them back if they arn't big enough.

Funkpocket: I think you should keep the hat your little secret. You could probably catch me with a cool hat.

[OatmealMama]

I can't wait to see it!

[junglesmacks]

- Make sure the elevated end points to around 6 o'clock-ish I would say

- Some fake seagulls perched on the pilings would be rad.. also, find a way to make mock bird poo and splatter it a bit on the wood to give it that authentic feel

- Fishing poles would be the shiz diz!

[Pink Daddy]

It would be super rad to have the boat MVs pull alongside at the correct height and sit there for a bit.

Perhaps a ladder can be installed at different lengths, so that people can climb up without having to go all the way to the beginning...

Edit: BTW, love the idea. I'm sure stilt walkers will enjoy it, as well...

[fbcota]

Bird poo, brilliant. Its easy enough to do,...

I have been thinking about having it point toward the man. Not so sure yet. If I had an Ideal position in mind it would be at the end of 4, 4:30 or 5 on or near the Esplinade pointing out toward the man. Thoughts?

I need to think more about this seagull thing. If done right it could be really cool.

I really hope the boats and sealife play along with it. I want to have a black board with a "ferry schedule" and maybe some "fishing trip" bulletin boards. It would be so much fun having a night with a bunch of the boats parked next to it. Maybe even launch a naval attack against one of the monsterous art cars!

I have been debating ladders. Part of me wants people to have to walk all the way out to the end. Another part thinks ladders are important and people will have more fun to have something to climb on.

Hmmm, stiltwalking might be a bit challenging on the pier. :). I'm thinking the board spacing is going to be erratic at best. Although, I guess all you guys have to do is walk up and sit down for a much needed rest!

If anyone wants to help I need to start gathering all the "props". Things like nets, rope, seagulls, fishing poles, lights, basically anything found on a pier. I am self funding this whole thing. I will try for a grant but I'm not holding my breath :). Also, if anyone knows of some halfway decent scrap wood around the Reno/Tahoe area I would be more then happy to take some of it. Looking for aged wood and piers especially.

Ohh, I want it to be a public space so I would love if 3rd parties well had parties on the art.

[Tin Halo]

• I think it's an awesome idea.

• I can see where the boats would end up congregating there, much of the time. I love that. It already is a surreal ocean, especially at night, so why not add a dock?

• I say, no rails. Self-reliance also includes a bit o'smarts.

• Here's a pointer for 'aging' the wood: 1 part used motor oil to 1 part diesel fuel. Brush on. Turns the wood gray and give it that "been out here for longer than you've been alive, son" kind of look. Caveat: smells like hell, until it dries out and airs some. So if you opt for this, prep the wood early--like, oh, no later than February or March--and let it air out, outside, until time to pack up and go.

• What about a buoy? 50, 60 feet off the 'deep end', put a buoy up on a pole, so it's at pier viewing height; maybe make it a bit flexible so it bobs up and down from the playa wind.

• Speakers with sounds of surf and seagulls. Actually make it a stereo arrangement, with the left speakers out at the deep end, and the right speakers back at the shallow end; make sure your surf recording pans relatively hard from left to right, to give the impression of water movement.

• Point at the Man. Yes.

[Pink Daddy]

I love it, I'll contribute anyway that I can.

I would love to make some really soft life rings that I can throw at people. Gotta think about how I can do that so I don't hurt people.

I think that the ocean sounds would be awesome. The speakers can be mounted underneath the dock, so you don't really know where the sound is coming from.

Stilt walkers are always looking for places that have something that they can sit down on to rest. You'll find them congregating around the dock, especially if they are up high.

You'll need some serious labor to lay the foundation poles. Maybe you can coordinate with DPW to use some of their equipment...

[Tin Halo]

I love it, I'll contribute anyway that I can.

Me, too. I am hoping to be out early enough this year to volunteer with shit like this.

I would love to make some really soft life rings that I can throw at people. Gotta think about how I can do that so I don't hurt people.

I thought about life rings while typing my response. A suggestion might be to have the rings painted with the names of things one might want to see make it through the rites of passage... USS Sanity... USS Soul... etc.

I think that the ocean sounds would be awesome. The speakers can be mounted underneath the dock, so you don't really know where the sound is coming from.

That's where I was thinking, too. Although, now that I ponder it some more, why not hide the speakers in some of those fake boulders built specifically to look like rocks? Bury the wire in playa dust, or make sure the boulders are conveniently located next to pier supports, so the wire can be run along the pier underside, down the support, and over to the rock.

Maybe you can coordinate with DPW to use some of their equipment...

That's dreaming big, but weirder things have happened.

It occurs to me, too, that the equipment for all this will need to be housed, and what better way to house it than a closed 'Bait Shop' at the low end of the pier, with generator and/or solar panel on top to facilitate power?

[Pink Daddy]

Oh the LIGHTING would have to be epic. I say the traditional lights with the long pole. Here's a pic of something similar...



Man, that would be a rockin' place on the playa...

[Tin Halo]

Well, remember... OP did say 'Asian-style pier'...

[RainbowRaccoon]

I think you should have steps up onto the pier if you want to save costs, rather than 300ft . altho that would look great jutting up out of the playa, the buried city look.

[Pink Daddy]

Crap, I missed that. Well, we could hang oriental lights...

[junglesmacks]

You'll need some serious labor to lay the foundation poles. Maybe you can coordinate with DPW to use some of their equipment...

I wouldn't think that you would need to dig into the playa at all.. it could just rest on top of the playa fine I would think.

[Pink Daddy]

It would be advisable to anchor some poles into the playa when you're suspending a platform 12ft off the surface. The weight alone cannot guarantee it's stability during wind and Burner behavior.

[thirt33n]

I think you should have steps up onto the pier if you want to save costs, rather than 300ft . altho that would look great jutting up out of the playa, the buried city look.

i think the rise is the biggest magic factor of the idea. the varying heights makes it all inclusive for MV docking.

ladders only to the faux water level...not all the way down maybe?

you're getting pummeled with excellent input. proof of a wonderful vision.

i'm way up in north idaho and drawing out my project ...else i'd be sure to jump on the pier crew.

!!