Intro to Dock Building 101: The Fascinating Process On Lake Martin Alabama

I get a lot of questions about dock building on Lake Martin, specifically how docks are physically built on when the water is up in the summer. So, I thought this might be a good opportunity to go and check out a situation like this. 

Some friends of mine have their dock being built on, and so l thought l’d write a blog about what it looks like when a barge is there and they’re working on the dock. In this particular case, our friends are getting their fixed dock adjusted and also getting a new floating dock and boat lift.  

Dock Building on Lake Martin: Parts of Construction

Now, we’ll go through the parts of all this construction. The biggest and most obvious part is the barge. The big barge has a lot of equipment on it. It has two poles that are what we call Spud poles. What they’ll do is actually drive those into the ground so that the barge is stable when it’s working. This is because it’s got to be stable in order to have that big huge track hoe on it that does all the work. 

The track hoe that is on the bars does all the work. It picks up things, drills holes for the poles, and places the poles down in there. It does all the work for this whole operation. 

The push boat literally pushes the barge to the job site. They put the barge that has the track hoe and materials on it in the water on a boat ramp. Then, the push boat, which is really just like a big pontoon boat, literally pushes the barge into place so that they can get to where they’re going. This is because the barge doesn’t have any engines on it to get anywhere. 

The last piece I will tell you about is another materials boat. I guess the company building my friends’ pier had some more materials to deliver, and so they put some on another materials boat. This boat has a little outboard motor. Sometimes you don’t see those often, but that’s what they have here.

Dock Construction Process on Lake Martin: Floating and Fixed Dock Installation Explained

Now, we’re going to take a look at the construction job itself. Every construction process is going to be different, but I’m just going to tell you about what’s going on with my friends’ dock. 

My friends have u-shaped dock none as a floating dock. Their floating dock is where they will park their their boat. They had that moved into a little bit different position, and so that was part of what they were doing.

The construction company drove those poles into the water and into the base of the lake, and that’s what they’re building their fixed dock off of. So, what you see typically is the dock companies set those poles in the water first. That’s the hardest part of the job really. Then, they set the bands that go around it.

Once they get the poles done, it’s pretty much a normal construction project. I’m sure they’ll laugh when I say normal. But again, getting those poles in the ground and in the lake bed in the right spots are really the super critical parts of the job. Once you get to that point, it becomes a little bit more recognizable as a normal dock. 

Real Estate on Lake Martin

I hope you enjoyed that explanation of dock building. If you have any questions, then let me know because docks, seawalls, and all marine construction are such a huge part of your overall investment for a lake house.

I’m John Coley, and I’m a real estate agent here on Lake Martin in Alabama. I can help you figure out how your needs and your wants line up with what’s on the market right now. Give me a call at the number on the top of this page or shoot me an email. You can also use our Contact Page to reach me. I would love to help you out. 

If you’re on YouTube, then please subscribe to my channel. I have many videos that can help you learn more about living on Lake Martin. Also, for more blogs visit the links listed below: 

Lake Martin Winter Projects for Homeowners

Hiring a Dock Builder at Lake Martin