Cofferdam Seawall on Lake Martin Alabama

A lakefront house may be worth millions, but without the right protection their investment could be eroded away. Today, I will be talking about a super unique and complex seawall that I was able to see being built for the first time in my career on Lake Martin known as a cofferdam seawall.

Why is a seawall important on Lake Martin?

First we need to know why a seawall is so important for Lake Martin waterfront homes and lots. The main reason is that they protect the most valuable part of the investment – the land.

I’m John Coley with Lake Martin Voice Realty, and I recently learned about a solution to pouring a concrete seawall in high water — a cofferdam.

Cofferdam Seawall

A cofferdam seawall is a temporary dam used to remove the water from behind an area in order to be able to pour a concrete seawall. I was able to watch one of these seawalls being built in The Heritage neighborhood. The general contractor, Henderson and Coker of Alexander City, was the company that was in charge of building it.

Even though they poured the wall in the low winter water level here at Lake Martin, this particular lot on Luanne’s Point had water so deep that parts of it stayed wet all year long.

The solution? A cofferdam. Henderson and Coker hired a company called Portadam to come in from New Jersey to build a protective cofferdam around the construction zone. The cofferdam’s purpose was to hold the water back enough so that the seawall may be poured.

How do you do that while the water’s up?

Well, this is what the cofferdam is all about. All of the steel framework encapsulates the area. They wrap liners that sit on top of the framework. Then, the contractor puts a pump that dewaters it. Sandbags placed at the edge of the liner help seal up the cofferdam.

The cofferdam holds back the Lake Martin water away so that they can get just enough dry to pour the concrete footers for the seawall.

Real Estate on Lake Martin

It’s very important to know these types of things especially if you move to the lake and want to pour a concrete seawall. You need to know how to go about doing that. It’s important to protect the land that you have invested in.

This was the most technical seawall job I’ve ever seen in my career. It is important to know about seawalls and waterfront, because we’re here for the real estate.

My name is John Coley with Lake Martin Voice Realty. I’d love to help you out if you’re curious about Lake Martin real estate. Also, if you’re curious about what the value of your lake house has done over this market, then give me a call at the number on the top of this page. You can also reach me through my email or Contact Page.

If you have questions about concrete seawalls, then call Henderson and Coker. They’re the experts on that.

For more blogs about seawalls, follow the links to the blogs below:

Concrete Seawall on Lake Martin

Seawall Failures at Lake Martin Alabama