Archive for October, 2011

seaside seawall iconRush Lake In Pinckney, Michigan Gets a New Steel Seawall

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

We recently finished installing a new steel seawall in Pinckney, Michigan.  Located in Livingston  County on beautiful Rush Lake, this customer had a common lakefront problem that we often see in the area.  The existing seawall was constructed out of wood and due to the harsh climates in Michigan, the seawall was now failing.  Although access to the lakefront was a relatively steep hill, Seaside’s machinery navigated the landscape with no issues.  The new seawall is made out of Superior 8-guage black steel,  which is ideal for the ground and ice pressure problems that we face during our long winters.  In every steel seawall or galvanized seawall, we install drainage weepholes, backed with a geotextile fabric mesh. These drainage weepholes ensure proper drainage through the new wall.  After the wall is installed, we backfill behind the new seawall.  This customer’s grade sloped down at the shoreline, so as Seaside was backfilling the new wall, we raised the grade of the yard to the height of the new seawall to have a beautiful even lawn right up to the seawall.  They also had a small beach area that we brought the new seawall right up against.   We used a geotextile fabric mesh 15-18″ underneath new beach sand to help revive the beach area.  We topsoil and seeded any areas of disturbed lawn to bring a wonderful finish to this project.  This customer also had an existing dock,  so Seaside welded dock attachments to the new seawall.  Now completed, they have an amazing lakefront area to enjoy for years to come.

 

You may wonder why they chose to install a steel seawall as opposed to another wood seawall or perhaps a vinyl seawall.  The life-span on a new steel seawall far surpasses the life-span of a vinyl seawall or wooden seawall.  A steel seawall is virtually maintenance free and with the  anchors and tiebacks installed correctly will last for many, many years.  Our marine construction specialists take great pride in the job that they do and because of their expertise we guarantee our steel seawalls for 10 years against ice and ground pressure.  Many contractors will take shortcuts, sometimes with the length of the steel pilings or with the anchors and tiebacks, and will pass what seems like savings on to the customer.  Unfortunately, the seawalls that they install often have to be repaired and/or replaced much sooner than if they had done the job correctly.  So if you want to have a beautiful lakefront with a seawall that will last for many years, call Seaside Seawalls.  We take pride in every job that we do.

 

Seawall on Rush Lake in Pinckney Michigan

 

 

 

 


seaside seawall iconWhitmore Lake, MI – Steel Seawall & New Beach Excavation

Monday, October 10th, 2011

Our crew is hard at work on the shoreline of Whitmore Lake in Washtenaw County, Michigan. We will be installing a shiny new 87’ x 18” steel seawall that will extend across the property’s shoreline. Along with the new wall, the construction project includes two 3’ returns and two 12’ returns. Both of the 12’ returns are scheduled for a new beach area. Our excavating professionals will prepare the lot for the new beach by clearing out any undesirable dirt. This will make them ready to be filled in with sand 12” to 15” deep.

For this project we opted to use fine sand, also known as 2NS grade. Using the 2NS grade-type will provide longevity to the newly constructed beach. This particular grade of sand is produced by washing and screening natural sand. It has a light golden brown color which comes from the natural abrasion and disintegration of rocks by glacial or riverbed action. Typically 2NS sand particles possess a wide distribution of sizes. We chose this grade because even though the texture of the aggregate is finer than the typical masonry sand it proves to be heavier which means it will hold its ground better and extend the beauty of the beach.

Did you know…?

… A grain of sand, as termed by geologists, can range in diameter from 0.0625 mm to 2 mm per particle. The most common component of sand in inland settings is silica (silicon dioxide/SIO2), ordinarily in the form of quartz. There are five sub-categories of sand in the United States and are established by their size: very fine sand (1/16 mm – 1/8 mm diameter), fine sand (1/8 mm – 1/4 mm), medium sand (1/4 mm – 1/2 mm), course sand (1/2 mm – 1 mm), and very coarse sane (1 mm – 2 mm). Geologists consider the smaller particles whose size ranges from 0.004 mm to 0.0625 mm as silt. Whereas a handful of sand feels gritty, silt’s texture is so fine it can be compared to that of flour. Larger particles of sand that have a diameter ranging from 2 mm up to 64 mm would be considered as gravel.