Dock Builders in Hallandale Beach, FL

Hallandale Beach sits at the southern edge of Broward County, and dock builders here work on waterfront homes and condos where storms are a real design input. Hurricane Katrina made its first landfall between Hallandale Beach and Aventura in 2005. About 7.5 percent of the city's area is water, and with more than 28,000 housing units in a little over four square miles, much of the waterfront is dense.

What storm-ready means for a dock

A dock does not have to be indestructible, but it should fail gracefully and be easy to put back. In practice that means:

• Pilings driven deep enough to resist uplift and lateral loads
• Stainless or hot-dipped galvanized hardware that will not rust through
• Decking fastened so boards stay down in wind, with gaps that let surge pass through
• Framing tied to pilings with through-bolts, not just nails or screws

We also look at what is around the dock: loose items, a boat left in the water and a weak seawall cap are all common sources of damage.

Lifts and storms

A boat on a lift is safer than a boat tied to a dock during most storms, but only if the lift is sized and secured correctly. Before a hurricane, owners should follow the manufacturer's guidance for their lift, which may mean raising the boat high and strapping it, or hauling it out. We walk through those steps at installation.

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Seawalls and the county rule

Broward County's tidal flood barrier standard requires new or substantially repaired walls in tidally influenced areas to reach five feet NAVD88. Owners must keep walls in good repair, and tide water flowing onto neighbors or the street is a citable nuisance. When we build or repair a dock, we check the wall height and condition first.

Condo and association docks

Many Hallandale Beach docks belong to associations. Work on them usually goes through the board, and sometimes through a property manager. We provide drawings, a clear scope and a schedule so the board can review and approve before work begins.

Waterway rules

Florida's manatee rule sets a 25 mph cap on the Intracoastal between the Palm Beach and Miami-Dade county lines, with slow speed within 50 feet of shore year-round. That nearshore slow zone helps reduce wake damage along residential docks.

The city's growth

Hallandale began around 1895 as a farming settlement named for Luther Halland, recruited by Henry Flagler's railroad company. It became a town in 1927 and took the name Hallandale Beach in 1999. In 1978, a small part of the Golden Isles neighborhood that had been in Miami-Dade was moved to Broward and annexed to the city.