We need to get our old wood bulkhead replaced. We are looking to get a new composite material bulkhead. On our old wood bulkhead we just have three cleats attached to the top of the bulkhead where we attach the bow and stern lineas and then a spring line as well. The boat is a 24 foot Boston Whaler Outrage. We are getting quotes of $650 per wooden piling. Since we have not used them in the past I am wondering if we need them to secure our boat to the new bulkhead. I do not want to ruin the structural integrity of the new bulkhead. One of the contractors is telling us that you need five pilings at $650 a pop is $3250. That is a lot of extra money. Does anyone know if you need to have pilings to tie a boat up to a new composite bulkhead or can you just fasten cleats to the top of the wood on the bulkhead and just pad up the wall with the proper bumpers. Also does anyone know any bulkhead contractors in the Normandy Beach N.J. area or anyone who will put in pilings for a boat for a reasonable price.
Need New Bulkhead
- Thread starter Jbender5
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I would think you need one or two pilings to keep the boat off of the bulkhead. But, depending on where you are located, if there's no traffic on your waters, you may be able to get by with just tying up to the bulkhead. Pilings would enable you to add lines on the other side of the boat to hold it off the bulkhead in the event of wake or waves from other vessels or just plain old tidal flow.
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I just replaced my old wooden bulkhead with a new composite one. The company I used is Grande Bros. Marine Contractors in Toms River. They did a very professional job.
Bill
Bill
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Why would anyone not use concrete, here in Florida it runs about$90. per foot and will last a liftetime. The new composite ones that are being used here all some to bulge and fall over in a relatively short time frame. I have 90 feet and 65 x 12 feet of dock,
and have one extra piling for the front of the large boat, this piling as $150. installed and it is about 10 feet from the end of the dock up against the seawall.
and have one extra piling for the front of the large boat, this piling as $150. installed and it is about 10 feet from the end of the dock up against the seawall.
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The lake we are on has just started only allowing treated lumber seawals or riprap. Interesting, if your waterfront is exposed they require riprap. Most people build their docks in front of the seawall. Mine is at least 15yrs old and still is in perfect condition. If I were tying my boat off the seawall, I would definitely want at least two pilings on the outside of the boat to hold it off the seawall.
Whats on the land side of the bulkhead? if its dock and in good shape fasten the cleats into that. If need be remove a board or two from the dock and put some concrete in. Also rather than tie the boat to the bulkhead you should look into whips, with the whips you wont have to worry about protecting the boat.
If you tie the boat to the cleats mounted right on top of the bulkhead will the weight of the boat be pulling on the bulkhead versus putting in two or three pilings and tying off to the pilings so that the weight of the boat is just pulling on the pilings and not on the bulkhead itself. If the bulkhead is not getting ruined by the boats weight pulling on it then I might just get some whips to keep the boat away from the bulkhead.
You need to talk to the contractors some more. I doubt they are saying to get pilings as a place to tie up to.
It seems more likely this is a "navy bulkhead" configuration. The plastic materials are thin and don't have the strength of wood planking, so the timber frame (aka "whalers") on the outside and the pilings all help hold it in place along with the tie rods and dead men. And, since that sort of bulkhead has anything but a smooth surface, you also need the pilings to keep your boat from catching under a whaler when the tide comes up, etc.
You would still have cleats along the dock, lagged or bolted into some wooden structure below.
Or are you talking about the plastic planking that looks like a 2x8 wood plank? But that's not real strong either, and I believe it's generally used for refacing, not new construction.
If they draw you a picture I think it's all going to make a lot more sense.
It seems more likely this is a "navy bulkhead" configuration. The plastic materials are thin and don't have the strength of wood planking, so the timber frame (aka "whalers") on the outside and the pilings all help hold it in place along with the tie rods and dead men. And, since that sort of bulkhead has anything but a smooth surface, you also need the pilings to keep your boat from catching under a whaler when the tide comes up, etc.
You would still have cleats along the dock, lagged or bolted into some wooden structure below.
Or are you talking about the plastic planking that looks like a 2x8 wood plank? But that's not real strong either, and I believe it's generally used for refacing, not new construction.
If they draw you a picture I think it's all going to make a lot more sense.
Jbender5,
The bulging phenomenon referred to earlier in this thread is called creep in the engineering world. If the aforementioned installation "bulged", it was either the wrong strength material to begin with, or it was backfilled with the wrong material, causing an overload. Regarding this, vinyl/composite walls should never be backfilled with fill dirt, especially if the material contains clay. Fill dirt can retain significant quantities of water, and put a lot more weight/stress/load on the wall than it is designed for. This is a common mistake in the field. In almost all cases, the proper fill material is sand. Beyond that, insisting on the proper anchoring system, rather than a less expensive "budget" version will alleviate any chance of a wall "falling over" as also mentioned earlier in the thread.
Other issues to consider: Sheet piles should have at least as much material in the ground as the wall height extending above the sea bed. Also, anchor rods should always be 2.5 to 3 times as long as the height of the wall measuring from firm sea floor to the top of the wall.
As far as pilings go for the entire wall, they may not be necessary at all depending on the height of the wall, and the whaler system utilized. There are formulas and tables for this computation. Pilings would be a good idea in the boat area though.
Regarding all this, here's a good place to do some research prior to pulling the trigger on your installation. http://www.cmiengineer.com/product-engineering.php It is well worth designing the wall properly from the beginning, to insure a lasting installation. That said, and considering the relatively elementary computations at hand, having the loads evaluated by an engineering firm should be relatively inexpensive, and would be the best money you ever spend during the process of constructing your new wall. With that load data in hand, you can choose the proper materials for the job, ultimately averting problems which most often emerge down the road...long after the installation is complete.
Good luck.
The bulging phenomenon referred to earlier in this thread is called creep in the engineering world. If the aforementioned installation "bulged", it was either the wrong strength material to begin with, or it was backfilled with the wrong material, causing an overload. Regarding this, vinyl/composite walls should never be backfilled with fill dirt, especially if the material contains clay. Fill dirt can retain significant quantities of water, and put a lot more weight/stress/load on the wall than it is designed for. This is a common mistake in the field. In almost all cases, the proper fill material is sand. Beyond that, insisting on the proper anchoring system, rather than a less expensive "budget" version will alleviate any chance of a wall "falling over" as also mentioned earlier in the thread.
Other issues to consider: Sheet piles should have at least as much material in the ground as the wall height extending above the sea bed. Also, anchor rods should always be 2.5 to 3 times as long as the height of the wall measuring from firm sea floor to the top of the wall.
As far as pilings go for the entire wall, they may not be necessary at all depending on the height of the wall, and the whaler system utilized. There are formulas and tables for this computation. Pilings would be a good idea in the boat area though.
Regarding all this, here's a good place to do some research prior to pulling the trigger on your installation. http://www.cmiengineer.com/product-engineering.php It is well worth designing the wall properly from the beginning, to insure a lasting installation. That said, and considering the relatively elementary computations at hand, having the loads evaluated by an engineering firm should be relatively inexpensive, and would be the best money you ever spend during the process of constructing your new wall. With that load data in hand, you can choose the proper materials for the job, ultimately averting problems which most often emerge down the road...long after the installation is complete.
Good luck.