WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — The U.S. military-built pier to carry humanitarian aid to Gaza will be dismantled and brought home.

It ends a mission fraught with repeated weather and security challenges that limited how much supply could reach Palestinians.

In a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander at U.S. Central Command, told reporters the pier has achieved its intended purpose.

Cooper said Israel's plan to use the part at Ashdod is a more sustainable approach, and it already has been used to transport more than a million pounds of aid into Gaza.

“Having now delivered the largest volume of humanitarian assistance ever into the Middle East, we’re now mission complete and transitioning to a new phase,” Cooper said. "In the coming weeks, we expect that millions of pounds of aid will enter into Gaza via this new pathway.”

Critics call the pier a $230 million boondoggle that failed to provide an adequate level of aid. U.S. military has said it was effective and close to 20 million pounds of supplies were delivered to Palestinians.

President Joe Biden, who announced the building of the pier during his State of the Union speech in March, expressed disappointment in the pier project.

“I was hopeful that would be more successful.”

A critical element that neither aid groups nor U.S. military could control was Israel defense forces whose military operation into Gaza put humanitarian workers in danger.

After the pier's installation May 16, it operated for fewer than 25 days, and aid agencies used it only about half of that time, due to security concerns.

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