Dock Builders in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Fort Lauderdale calls itself the Venice of America, and with 165 miles of waterways inside city limits, dock builders here work on more frontage than almost anywhere in South Florida. Much of that work now starts with the seawall, because the city tightened its height rules in 2023 and king tides regularly test older walls along the New River and the side canals.

What the city code says about heights

Ordinance C-23-05, adopted in March 2023, amended the city's land development rules. Under Section 47-19.3, the top of a seawall must be at least 3.9 feet NAVD88. The maximum depends on the FEMA base flood elevation for the lot: where the BFE is 4.0 feet, the maximum is 5.0 feet NAVD88, and where the BFE is 5.0 feet or higher, the maximum equals the BFE.

A separate section, 47-19.13, sets tidal flood barriers at a minimum of five feet NAVD88. Applications filed before January 1, 2035 may be approved at four feet if the barrier can be raised to five by January 1, 2050. Substantial repair is defined as work on more than half the shoreline or more than half of replacement cost.

How heights affect your dock

The same ordinance generally limits fixed docks to ten inches above the seawall's elevation, and related structures attached to a seawall cannot rise above the wall they are attached to. That means raising a wall usually means rethinking the dock. A dock built decades ago at an old wall height may end up sitting below a new cap, or a lift bracket may need to be reset.

We design these as one project. Planning the wall, the dock height and any lift together avoids pouring a new cap and then tearing into it a year later.

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King tides

The city's own king tide message says NOAA predicts king tides on at least 40 days a year, more than 10 percent of the calendar. The city maintains 215 tidal valves and recommends that owners whose walls are overtopped raise them to its five foot standard. It named Victoria Park and the Southeast Isles among areas with tidal impacts. If water comes over or through your wall during these tides, Broward County's standard treats it as a nuisance that must be fixed.

Seawall repair options

Not every wall needs replacing. Depending on condition, options include:

• A new, taller cap poured on sound panels
• Sealing joints and filling voids behind the wall
• A new wall installed in front of a failing one, where the code and permits allow
• Full replacement when panels and tiebacks have failed

We start with an inspection and a height measurement so you know which category you are in.

Port and traffic

Fort Lauderdale is home to Port Everglades, one of the busiest cruise ports in the world. Most residential docks are far from the port, but busy waterways mean wake, and wake means wear on pilings, fenders and lines.