Docks, boat lifts, bulkheads, seawalls, riprap, retaining walls, and marsh crossings across the Hilton Head and Bluffton area — built, and kept working.
New private docks built for Lowcountry tidal range — permitted, engineered for the mud you actually have, and detailed for salt water.
How long does it take to build a dock on Hilton Head Island? Most of a dock project's timeline is permitting, not construction. A new private dock needs SCDES Critical Area review and federal authorization before any piling is set, and inside a gated community it also needs POA or ARB approval. Build time is measured in weeks; approval is measured in months.
Lifts sized to the boat, the tidal range, and what the existing dock structure can actually carry.
What size boat lift do I need? Lift capacity is sized to the boat's dry weight plus fuel, water, gear, and a safety margin — not to its advertised weight. On a large tidal range the lift's travel matters as much as its capacity, because the boat has to clear the mud at dead low and the dock at high.
Shoreline stabilization built for tidal load — wall, tie-back system, and drainage designed together, because they fail together.
Do I need a bulkhead or riprap? A bulkhead is a vertical wall that holds a hard property line where space is tight and the bank is being lost. Riprap is a sloped stone revetment that absorbs wave energy instead of resisting it. Which one suits a site depends on the bank, the wave exposure, and what the permit will allow.
Sloped stone revetment that absorbs wave energy rather than resisting it — often the better answer where a bank can be laid back.
How does riprap protect a shoreline? Riprap dissipates wave energy in the voids between stones instead of reflecting it back like a vertical wall does. That reduces scour at the toe and, on a marsh edge, is usually gentler on adjacent property than a bulkhead. It needs correct stone sizing and a filter layer to work.
Walls that hold grade behind the waterline, where drainage design decides whether the wall lasts or leans.
What is the difference between a retaining wall and a bulkhead? A retaining wall holds soil and grade on land. A bulkhead holds a shoreline against tidal water and wave action, and is permitted as Critical Area work. A wall built to retaining-wall standards in a tidal position will not last, because it is carrying a load it was never designed for.
Private bridges, marsh crossings, and elevated walkways that span wetland without disturbing it.
Can I build a bridge across the marsh to my dock? Crossing tidal wetland is permitted work, and approvals turn on minimising disturbance: span length, pile spacing, deck width, and construction access are all reviewed. A crossing built with the right span and access plan touches very little marsh, which is usually what makes it approvable.
Pilings, decking, framing, and hardware repaired in place — and a clear answer on which side of the permit line your job falls.
Do I need a permit to repair my dock in South Carolina? Most in-kind repair to an existing, legally permitted or grandfathered dock does not require a new SCDES permit — the standard is that the structure stays generally intact and functional and the work stays within its original dimensions. Once repair crosses into reconstruction or changes the footprint, a general or individual permit applies instead.
Assessment and repair after hurricane surge, wind, or fallen limbs — from temporary stabilization through permitted rebuild.
Do I need a permit for emergency dock repair after a storm? Temporary stabilization to prevent further loss — bracing a leaning piling, securing loose decking — isn't itself the permitted repair. After a declared emergency, SCDES offers a no-fee Emergency General Permit to reconstruct a previously permitted or grandfathered structure to its exact prior condition, but that still requires an application and Department approval.
Motor, cable, cradle, and piling repair for lifts that have stopped raising or lowering evenly.
Why won't my boat lift raise evenly? Uneven lifting means one side is carrying more load than the other: a stretched or corroded cable, a slipping drum, a failing gearbox, or a lift piling that has moved. Running a lift that racks under load damages the cradle and the boat, so stop using it until it is checked.
Scheduled inspection and maintenance — cables, drums, gearboxes, and corrosion control before they become repairs.
How often should a boat lift be serviced? A lift in brackish salt air needs inspection roughly twice a year rather than the once-a-year interval common inland, plus a check ahead of hurricane season. Cables, drums, and electrical connections all degrade faster here, and a cable that fails under load takes the cradle — and often the boat — with it.
Tie-back failure and washout repair for walls holding back tidal creeks and sound frontage.
What does it mean when a bulkhead starts leaning? A leaning bulkhead almost always means the tie-backs anchoring it to the deadmen behind the wall have failed, or the soil holding those anchors has washed out. The lean is the symptom; the anchoring system behind the wall is where the repair happens.
Pile, stringer, and decking repair on private crossings and elevated walkways over marsh.
How do marsh crossings fail? Crossings fail from the bottom up. Support piles take borer and tidal damage at the mudline while the deck above still looks sound, so a walkway can feel solid right up until a stringer connection lets go. Inspection has to start below the deck, not on it.