Marina Collapes

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BarrenRiver

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At the Narrows Marina on Barren River Lake in Kentucky, a section of marina where I have my boat collapsed this morning around 4:15 due to icing..Seems the houseboats where mine is docked are holding up that section of marina more to follow and maybe pictures

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Sorry to hear that. Hope all works out OK for the boat owners. That's the second marina I've read about collapsing this season. The snow and ice up and down the east coast have been brutal this winter. Hope it all ends soon and we can get back to normal boating. Hy
 
Never thought about this before but...does the marina have a liability for damages to boats or is this sort of thing an "Act of God" and you are on your own?
 
Hope all works out for you. How old where the docks?
 
those docks were about 23 years old as is the Styrofoam under them, which I am sure is partially waterlogged over the years.....my section is half that old but has the tubs for flotation, however the walkway and fingers are about 6" out of the water I have been told. The concrete pans for the walkways and fingers make it sit a little lower in the water than 2x's. I may try and head that way a little later, I got the call shortly after I got up at 3 this morning, 5 years ago I would have been there, but hey I have become much smarter these last few years...besides wtf could I do
 
The main problem is that the docks do not remain level when reacting to additional roof loading. The finger ends sink at a faster rate than the walkways which results in a bending load on the roof supports. Many docks lack sufficient cross bracing to counteract such bending loads.
 
Do building codes apply to the load that these roofs have to support?
We had a facade collapse at a small supermarket we often shop at, good thing we did not go shopping that day! Must have been water getting between the concrete block structure and the brick facade, water froze and popped it right off.
 
I haven't seen a single marina here on Long Island or north of NYC in Westchester county which has a roof structure over walkways or slips. I don't know if that's because of the costs involved in building and maintaining them, the limitations of building codes, or the fact that almost no one keeps a boat in the water in the winter. I haven't seen any huge indoor winter storage sheds either. Wintertime finds hundreds of "white ghosts" sitting on pavement or dirt waiting for the spring thaw. I would assume the marina's insurance will cover the costs of any of the boats that were damaged, even if the initial payout is from each boat owner's policy. I know marinas around here require owners to have liability and property damage coverage on their boats. We have a policy covering those and the value of the boat and equipment, as well. It will be interesting to learn the final outcome of the incident. Please keep us informed, BarrenRiver. Thanks and good luck. Hy
 
From Somewhere in the internet.

The Covered Corridor is a latitude range that has weather mild enough to accommodate covered slips for boats. If you move too far South your covered slips stand a good chance of getting blown away by high winds. If you build too far North, your covered dock is at risk of being pushed under water by the weight of snow and ice. This mild weather band runs from the Ohio River in the North to about the middle of Alabama.
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There is a dock next to the one that went down, same age, same construction....not a single cross brace is in it....The covered slips in which my boats is docked, is about 10 years newer than the others and has plenty of cross bracing. Headed back to the marina in a few and will try to get some pictures
 
quote:
Originally posted by Nautiville

From Somewhere in the internet.

The Covered Corridor is a latitude range that has weather mild enough to accommodate covered slips for boats. If you move too far South your covered slips stand a good chance of getting blown away by high winds. If you build too far North, your covered dock is at risk of being pushed under water by the weight of snow and ice. This mild weather band runs from the Ohio River in the North to about the middle of Alabama.
e358003.jpg


Click to expand...
Most all our docks in Texas, on non-tidal water, are covered. Like a car, HUGE improvement for boat appearance, weathering, etc.
 
I doubt that the marina has any liability here - most likely because it was waived in their contract.
 
As Hy said I've never seen any covered structures over docks like that up here. Many people do keep their boats in the water at Huntington Harbor in the winter but they are all shrink wrapped. I guess they don't anticipate icing conditions that add hundreds of pounds of weight to each section of roofing, but maybe they should, because this seems to be happening with greater frequency.
 
Same exact thing happen in Texas during our freeze and ice storm in December.
Our boat house was sunk over 14 inches for three days
The marina guys were on the roofs trying to knock off the ice.
Lots of damages to boats and several were sunk
Been a long winter
Come on summertime
Abouttime
 
Unbelievable! When you look at those photos, you can understand why the structures collapsed. The posts, struts, and metal roofing were never designed to carry the snow and ice loads they sustained. This has been one heck of a winter. Glad no one was hurt. Property can be repaired or replaced; people, not so much. Hy
 
Common occurrence in a bad winter. Keeps the local surveyors and repair facilities working. Many covered slips/boat houses survived the winds from Katrina and Rita. South Shore at New Orleans survived as did many of the boat houses at West End, at least the ones not weakened by Formosan Termites.
 
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