Dock Builders in Ocean Ridge, FL

Ocean Ridge is a small barrier island town along A1A, and dock builders here work on its lagoon side, facing the Lake Worth Lagoon and the Intracoastal near Boynton Inlet. More than half of the town's area is water, about 0.99 of 1.75 square miles. The town began as the oceanfront part of Boynton, separated in 1931 and took the name Ocean Ridge in 1939.

Seawalls take the hits here

On a barrier island, the seawall on the lagoon side does a lot of work. It holds the lot against tides, boat wakes and storm surge pushed through the inlet. Over time, walls develop cracks in the cap, open joints between panels and voids where soil has washed out behind them. Signs to watch for include sinkholes or settling in the yard near the wall, pavers dropping, and water seeping through at high tide.

Repair options depend on what we find. Joint sealing and void fill can fix small leaks. A new cap can add height and tie the top of the wall together. A wall that is leaning or has failed tiebacks may need a new wall built in front of it or a full replacement.

Docks on a sound wall

Once the wall is solid, the dock can be built or rebuilt with confidence. Most Ocean Ridge docks sit on pilings beside the wall, with framing tied in at the cap. We check that the dock height works with the wall height and the tide range so the deck is not too high to step onto a boat or too low during king tides.

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Lifts for inlet boats

With Boynton Inlet so close, many owners keep boats that go offshore. A lift protects the hull and keeps the boat off the wall when wakes or storm surge come through. The marked inlet channel is excluded from the nearby manatee slow zone, but the surrounding waters south of the Lantana Avenue Bridge are slow speed year-round under Florida's manatee rule.

History under the sand

Archaeological work points to large shell mounds near today's Boynton Inlet, overlooking the ocean and the lagoon. Many of those mounds were excavated and leveled during the land boom. In 1925, Addison Mizner drew plans for a 2,000-room hotel here, a project undone by the 1926 and 1928 hurricanes and the bust that followed.

Who lives here

The 2020 census put the population at 1,830, with a median age of 63.4. Many owners are seasonal or retired, which makes regular inspections and low-maintenance materials like composite decking appealing.