Dock construction

[Hunt2871]

I am planning on building a dock on a lot I own on a small river in SOuth Georgia. The dock will be about 30 feet long and I want to build it on permanent pilings sunk in the river bed. It isnt possible to get a barge up the river nor is it possible to get any kind of derrick digger down the acess road to the lot. Does anyone have any idea how to sink dock pilings under water without the use of a pile driver??? I would like to pour some concrete in the holes with the pilings but that isnt necessarily a must. The river bottom as far as at least 6 inches or so is just sand...I imagine that their is a layer of clay under that and probably bed rock pretty close under that...any suggestions???

 

[gspig]

Re: Dock construction

Lot of people sink pilings with a water jet. You run a high pressure jet of water at the base of the piling and the water jet excavates under the piling sinking it into the river bed. Works well till you hit rock.

 

[EZLoader]

Re: Dock construction

Before going further I would first check to make sure you're not breaking some type of environmental or government regulation against placing your own dock on the river. Up here in the northwest the days of just building your own dock without full environmental approvals (fed, state and local) are over. Read this warning:<br /><br /> http://www.dockmodules.com/permits&.htm <br /><br />If it is legal, I'd drive around and find some owners of existing docks with similar river and soil conditions and find out what they did. You should also ask some piling/dock contractors for ideas and/or bids.<br /><br />If you're allowed to build a dock as described you might check out this link and others like it:<br /><br /> http://www.piertech.com/history.php <br /><br />Have you considered a floating dock setup that is tied off to the shore and anchored with cables? That might be just as good.<br /><br /> http://www.dockmodules.com/ <br /><br /> http://www.greatnortherndocks.com/

 

[Hunt2871]

Re: Dock construction

Originally posted by EZLoader:<br /> Before going further I would first check to make sure you're not breaking some type of environmental or government regulation against placing your own dock on the river. Up here in the northwest the days of just building your own dock without full environmental approvals (fed, state and local) are over. Read this warning:<br /><br /> http://www.dockmodules.com/permits&.htm <br /><br />If it is legal, I'd drive around and find some owners of existing docks with similar river and soil conditions and find out what they did. You should also ask some piling/dock contractors for ideas and/or bids.<br /><br />If you're allowed to build a dock as described you might check out this link and others like it:<br /><br /> http://www.piertech.com/history.php <br /><br />Have you considered a floating dock setup that is tied off to the shore and anchored with cables? That might be just as good.<br /><br /> http://www.dockmodules.com/ <br /><br /> http://www.greatnortherndocks.com/

Thanks for the info...your right, the permiting process has been a nightmare!!! But I finally got a permit from both the Corps of Engineers and the EPD of Georgia. The septic systme was easier to permit than the dock has been!!! I dont know if a floater would work in the current...I wanted a flowter becuase I understand how to buid it and if a flood washes it away it shoudl be easier to find and repair....a fixed dock would just dissapear into so many pieces!!! Thanks for the input!!!

 

[dhammann]

Re: Dock construction

Sounds like a situation similar to mine. I solved it by building the 48 foot deck in my garage 40 miles away from the lake! I built it in 12 foot sections and trucked each section to the lake site which was still over 200 feet from the water. I tied a rope to each section and pulled it like a sled to the water. The first pilings were put down close to the bank and then the 12 foot section was bolted to the pilings with 6 foot cantilevering over the water. I would walk out to the end of the cantilevered section and drive 2 more pilings and install the next section and so on until the full length was reached. All you need to drive pilings (assuming they are 4x4s, is to use a manual driver which can be made from a piece of 6 inch steel pipe with one end capped off and a handle attached to each side. Be sure to taper the pilings on all 4 sides so they will be easier to drive thru the mud and drive them down until they hit solid ground.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Dock construction

This is another use I found for All that 1/2" Iron Pipe,...... Again,.. Not the best material for the task,.. But it Works......<br />Note the Wheels,..... Hand-built from propane tank pieces,+ pipe......When pushed into the water,.... It makes a nice stable, level Dock.......

<br /> <br />

This is a C&P from OMC's Redneck Project thread,.....<br />It's 35' long,.... I built it in 15' sections,+ Trucked it 500 Miles on My Ladder Rack,...............<br />Myself,+ the Love of My Life assembled it in the driveway of the Lodge at Chemo Pond Maine,........

 

[flashback]

Re: Dock construction

Nice looking "battering ram" Bondo, and it doubles as a dock.. good form....

 

[Hunt2871]

Re: Dock construction

Originally posted by Big Dee:<br /> Sounds like a situation similar to mine. I solved it by building the 48 foot deck in my garage 40 miles away from the lake! I built it in 12 foot sections and trucked each section to the lake site which was still over 200 feet from the water. I tied a rope to each section and pulled it like a sled to the water. The first pilings were put down close to the bank and then the 12 foot section was bolted to the pilings with 6 foot cantilevering over the water. I would walk out to the end of the cantilevered section and drive 2 more pilings and install the next section and so on until the full length was reached. All you need to drive pilings (assuming they are 4x4s, is to use a manual driver which can be made from a piece of 6 inch steel pipe with one end capped off and a handle attached to each side. Be sure to taper the pilings on all 4 sides so they will be easier to drive thru the mud and drive them down until they hit solid ground.

I am going to build the deck area on site but the idea of driving the pilongs as you suggested is very interesting. The device you desribe is similar to a post setting tool used to set metal fence posts. I had no idea that it would be possible to drive a 4X4 that way also!!!! I am definitely going to give that a try! I am an electrical contractor by trade and Im wondering if it wouldnt be possible to take a big Pneumatic Air compressor and jack hammer and make a "cup" that would fit in the hanner and drive the 4X4's that way...we drive ground rods we electric hammers all the time.....Thanks for the suggestions!!!

 

[dhammann]

Re: Dock construction

Hunt, I too was once an electrical contractor and have installed ground rods in the same manner, beats the heck out of standing on a step ladder swinging a 5# sledge hammer. I like the jack-hammer idea and don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work. The pile driver that I used probably weighed 50 to 60 lbs which made it a little hard to to get started because the top of the 4x4 was about 7 feet above the dock. The pile driver was about 3 foot long with a handle extending the full length down each side. Once you get set-up the driver does most of the work, you just pick it up a few inches and drop it over and over. They went thru the muddy bottom surprisingly easy and stopped at 3 or 4 feet. Good luck!