Bulkheads in Boca Raton

Who this is for

Owners and associations with a bulkhead that leaks, leans or sits below the local height standard.

A height band, not just a minimum

Boca Raton's Engineering Design Standards Manual sets any new or replaced seawall or dock between 4.0 ft and 6.0 ft NAVD88. The maximum is unusual among the cities we work in: a wall or dock cannot simply be built as high as the owner likes.

Bulkheads meet the same height rule as seawalls.[1]

Designed for 12 to 18 more inches

The same manual asks for seawalls designed to take an added 12 to 18 in of height later without alteration. That sizes the piles, panels and tiebacks today for a raise the owner may only pay for in ten or twenty years.

Repairing an old bulkhead can trigger the full height rule, so we check first.[1]

A survey before the cap is poured

Boca Raton will not let a seawall cap be poured until a ZON location survey is approved, and after the work an engineer reports the finished cap elevation with photos. Docks and lifts finish with a Final Marine Structure Survey, so the elevation band is checked in the field, not just on paper.

Bulkheads follow the seawall permit route.[2]

What makes Boca Raton different

Plan review needs a current-conditions survey showing the seawall wet face or bulkhead line, the property line and piles, section details with the finished cap elevation, and a proposed site plan. Inspections are staged: a location survey before the cap is poured and before the structural cap and piling inspections, a final engineer report on cap elevation with photos, and a final marine structure survey for docks and lifts.[2]

Agencies beyond the City

Palm Beach County's marine structure checklist for unincorporated areas lists the outside approvals agencies expect to see: FDEP, the Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND) and the Army Corps, as applicable. That checklist is dated 2005, so we confirm current requirements for each job. The federal seagrass range used in dock design covers Palm Beach County waters.[3][4]

Permits in Boca Raton

• City of Boca Raton Development Services: Marine structure permits under City Code Chapter 22, with staged survey and engineer inspections.
• Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND): May be involved for work along the Intracoastal Waterway.
• Florida DEP or South Florida Water Management District: State permit or exemption for docks, walls and lifts on Lake Boca Raton and the Intracoastal Waterway.
• US Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District: Federal authorisation along the Intracoastal, which the Palm Beach County checklist expects to see with the building permit.

Where state exemptions stop

Florida exempts restoring a seawall at its previous location or within 18 inches waterward, and allows seawalls in artificial waterways. The exemption does not cover new vertical seawalls in estuaries or lagoons unless they sit inside an existing manmade canal already lined with seawalls.[8]

Frequently asked questions