Marine Bulkhead

A marine bulkhead could be described as a vertical wall component that separates land from water. Often times these structures are built along coastal areas that have a wide swing in tides and as well in fresh water lakes where the water is generally kept at a constant level. A bulkhead can also be called a seawall or retaining wall in some cases. However by implying the term marine bulkhead is understood to mean an application that would generally be constructed in a marine environment which would generally consist of salt or brackish water.

A marine bulkhead can be constructed in a number of ways utilizing a number of different materials. Historically wood and steel have been the most commonly used materials in these structures. The Navy has even a published manual that states the proper way to design and build a bulkhead to achieve a long lasting wall with sound engineering components. When people think of a marine bulkhead, often the navy style wall is the first thing that comes to mind. A navy style wall has a unique look in that multiple face piles (or round piles) are used to act as a supporting piece in the design. After these vertical piles are driven then horizontal walers are hung from these piles. There can be one, two, or three or more support walers depending on the exposed height of the wall, the back fill used, and the amount of surcharge that the wall might be felling. The next component in this marine bulkhead design is to drive vertical sheets and attach them to the walers. As stated earlier these sheets have historically been steel and wood – but recently vinyl and composite materials have come on the scene. The premise behind the vinyl and composite sheet piling is that marine borers who can traditionally eat a wood wall in as early as seven years, do not have an appetite for vinyl! Also, viny and composite sheet piling have a performance guarantees and often times a warranty that you would never find on a wood or steel wall.

A marine bulkhead can also be constructed in a way that a navy style design is not required. For instance a shallow water design concept can be used which does not require the support structure piece of the vertical round piles in front of the wall. Instead, the sheet piling is driven into the ground, often times as much in the ground as the exposed height out of ground, and then supported by the horizontal waler structural support pieces and then tied back through the waler to a dead man buried behind the wall. In this case the waler is carrying the brunt of the load, so careful consideration is required when determining the size and dimension of the wood to use. Then ties rods are generally used to go through the waler and hold the marine bulkhead in place by securing to a dead man. The dead man is often a buried treated round pile, poured concrete, or some kind of large steel plate. Basically you are looking for something that is strong enough, and with enough surface area to hold the marine bulkhead in place for an indefinite amount of time. After all, you only want to build a bulkhead or seawall once, especially if you have to tear up your yard to do so. That is why many homeowners have chosen to go the route of vinyl and composite sheeting so that after construction they can be confident that they only have to build the marine bulkhead once. We have heard through the years the catch phrase “vinyl is final.”