Trends in marine construction lend themselves to structures that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing.
Fortunately, contemporary design allows for seawalls that are serviceable, but can still make an impression as a true integration into a waterfront property.
As heavy duty a task as they bear, today’s seawalls can more easily look the part of tying into a home’s dock, deck and boat lift. Not in the “accessories category” per se, but there’s no longer a need for seawalls to stand out as a décor anomaly.
- Retard Erosion and Add Style
As we cover further on in this article, with concrete, natural stone, vinyl and sometimes a combination of several materials, functionality comes in all shapes and sizes. To keep erosion to a minimum while controlling moisture runoff and an effective drainage system, Clearwater seawalls in general help keep Mother Nature at bay.
- Vinyl Sheet Piling
Using this material for seawalls bestows a great deal of flexibility. Besides the chance to empower creativity and conform to coastline irregularities, for ease of installation, vinyl is comparatively simple to install. But wait, there’s more! Vinyl seawalls are resistant to the pervasive and consistent effects of UV rays and their damaging consequences. While defending against the rot and corrosion that is the bane of some traditional materials, vinyl is a very viable seawall construction alternative.
- Rip Rap Seawalls
There is tremendous bandwidth available with this multi-purpose seawall solution constructed from a variety of stones. First of all, these seawalls offer depth and dimensionality by virtue of their many components. Besides being environmentally friendly and oftentimes preferred by government agencies in environmentally sensitive areas, rip rap seawalls are unfailing unique. To continue with our praise of this adaptable solution is that these materials can be added to the baseline of a vinyl seawall to lend another dimension to the erosion reduction as well as ambiance. And finally, seawalls built of rip rap are famous for their attraction to certain classes of marine life thereby contributing to marine ecosystems and giving them a place to feed and dwell.
- Wood Seawalls
Wood seawalls offer their own contribution to protecting residential shorelines and properties. They do tend to be cost effective upon initial installation, but have their own obvious vulnerabilities. These are of course in the realm of the need for more frequent inspections and vigilance about repairs.
- Seawall Warranties
As Florida marine construction specialists, at Gibson Marine, we issue 25 year warranties against our labor, but you can’t beat the additional assurances from the manufacturers either. You can get up to 50 years on vinyl seawalls for example. And as long as you are using marine grade materials and maintain your installed structures per professional standards, you will be surprised the service years you can even get from marine grade, pressure treated woods.
If you need a seawall or are interested in making a change to one, give us a call for a consultation at 727-942-3111.
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