New Jersey city replacing metal boardwalk

The city of Ventnor, N.J., said it is replacing the aluminum planks installed on a two-block section of boardwalk in 1972 with traditional wooden planks.

Officials said the switch to aluminum was made in 1972 as a way of keeping maintenance costs down, but the metal proved an unpopular surface for walkers, joggers and bike riders who complained the planks were slippery when wet, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Friday.

Town public works employees said they have begun prying up the planks and will soon begin replacing them with cumaru hardwood boards.

I’ve already gotten calls from people that are thrilled to death to get rid of the aluminum, Ventnor Commissioner of Public Works Stephen Weintrob said. It’s a boardwalk, not an aluminum walk.

Weintrob said the metal was the subject of constant complaints.

We’d hear of bikes skidding, and runners and walkers falling. Senior citizens would walk up to that section and turn around. We had enough complaints, he said.