Dec 9, 2009 Independentmail.com reported : HARTWELL — A new aluminum fishing pier below Hartwell Dam will re-open in mid-January and connect with an existing concrete fishing pier.

Billy Birdwell, a spokesman for the Savannah District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the existing pier was closed after September 11, 2001 because vehicular access was too close to the powerhouse of the dam. That vehicular access has become employee parking.

Those using the pier will have to park at the Georgia River Recreation Area and walk to the fishing pier once it opens. The new pier will connect with the old pier and form the Lake Hartwell Dam Fishing Pier.

“I’ve seen photographs of the installation,” Birdwell said. “It is moving along quickly.”

The fishing pier is scheduled to open between Jan. 11 and Jan. 22, Birdwell said. Work on the project was funded from money from a PCB settlement.

Kenneth Bedenbaugh, the park operations manager for the Corps of Engineers Hartwell Project, said construction on the new pier began in August. He said that the project is in the final stage of construction of the pier structure. Construction on a small restroom will begin in mid-January, he said.

Bedenbaugh said that the state Department of Natural Resources is responsible for the construction of the new pier and the Corps will maintain the facility after construction is completed.

“We are hopeful for completion in mid-to-late January,” he said. “That is dependent on rain.”

Bedenbaugh said the stripped bass, hybrid bass and trout are found near the fishing pier.

Jon Caime, the Hart County administrator, said the fishing pier will be a great asset for the community when it opens.

“I think it is a wonderful thing,” he said. “It is one of the few trout areas along the Savannah River.”