Woolems has been building and renovating luxurious estates and commercial spaces on Florida shores for over 40 years. We are recognized as one of the most successful waterfront contractors in South Florida.
Florida’s coastal shores offer many wonderful diverse options for waterfront living. Whether fronting the ocean, the intracoastal waterway, a canal or one of Florida’s many lakes, Woolems Luxury Builders are specialists in the field. With our corporate headquarters in West Palm Beach, we are convenient to our many clients in Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast. We have also strategically located offices with project teams in place in Miami as well as the Ocean Reef Club in the Florida Keys to efficiently serve our clients and projects in the Miami-Dade and Monroe counties including Golden Beach, Key Biscayne, Coral Gables and Key Largo.
There are many factors that arise in the design and execution of waterfront projects including sea walls, water-resistant materials and safety. There are also many environmental challenges that need to be discovered, understood and in some cases protected including ground conditions, dewatering, access … even sea turtles.
Our most qualified team members share more about the challenges that arise with waterfront construction.
We built this classical home on the water and it faced many of the challenges outlined in this post. With our knowledge, we were able to beat those challenges before they had a chance to shake things up!
Seawalls
Project Manager, Shawn Rich has spent years working on the intracoastal waterway in Miami-Dade County. Currently he is working on a project in Golden Beach. Shawn says that seawalls are “the first line of defense for your property”. Changing conditions such as sea level rise and soil erosion pose a dangerous threat. Concrete pilings are driven into the sea floor with concrete panels installed between them. A concrete cap bridges each piling and panel, creating a full seawall. Repairs become necessary after an extended amount of time due to its constant fight with the environment, weather and rise and fall of the tide. Regulations differ between jurisdictions as to seawall height, building materials and other characteristics. For example, in Miami-Dade County the wall design must be approved by the Department of Environmental Resource Management (DERM), along with other jurisdictions. To learn about DERM requirements, please visit the following link: https://www.miamidade.gov/permits/library/brochures/plan-review-process.pdf.
Here is a seawall before and after being filled.
Materials
Designers and architects must select building materials that are resistant to water, moisture, salt and sun. Stainless steel, powder coated aluminum, rebar with special coatings, and other materials to prevent oxidization like coastal protection packages for outdoor A/C units are materials we utilize to build these structures. Contemporary designs can often be seen with these materials on the outside as aesthetic features which is an efficient way to construct beautiful buildings.
Safety
The most important factor always is making sure our sites are safe and protected. Secured fencing on the perimeter of the water is a protection. Each jobsite must also have some form of unmotorized float and life ring in order to make a rescue if needed.
There are many more important items to keep in mind with waterfront construction. Regulations change often with the rising tide and shift in ecosystem. Woolems stays current with the constant changing regulations and stays educated on the environment and how we can be efficient and effective as we are working in these critical areas.
Soil Conditions
Soil conditions are another important aspect to keep in mind when building near the water. Project Executive, Carlos Sardiña says that these structures “must be built on a well-designed piling system to avoid settlement, which can pose many challenges.” Structural engineers design piling systems to support the weight of buildings according to the soil conditions where ground is too soft and the water table is too high. For example, a contemporary home we are working on in Golden Beach is designed with a foundation system having 200 pilings.
Dewatering
Dewatering is the process of removing excess water from excavation sites. Pumps and systems are designed and set into place to redirect the groundwater from the site so that excavation can take place with pools, plumbing, foundations and other important features on our jobsites. Dewatering can become more challenging in the late fall with King Tide season which is when the astronomical tides are at their highest in our area.
Access
Something most people might not think of is the difficulty in accessing sites that are on or near water. When you take bridges, traffic, roadwork, and narrow paths into account, it can be puzzling to figure out the best point of access. Many times we use barges to transport heavy machinery and materials to a job site. Detailed logistic plans are carefully designed to communicate to the team and others exactly how and when to get to the jobsite in order to cause the least amount of disruption in the area and to keep everything on time and safe.
Sea Turtles
Our teams must also be cognizant of any marine life nearby when working oceanside. Palm Beach County has more sea turtle nests per mile than anywhere in the United States. According to the Palm Beach County website, approximately 2,000,000 sea turtles hatch in Palm Beach County every year. There are ordinances in place throughout South Florida established to protect them as well as many other species. Field Operations Manager, Russell Stevenson has worked on many oceanside projects and says that the restrictions can go as far as landscaping lighting and reflective-ness of windows. When the turtles are nesting, Russell and his team install protective fencing along the property to keep turtles from entering the potentially dangerous jobsite. You can read more about how we can keep turtles safe here: https://conserveturtles.org/information-sea-turtles-threats-sea-turtles/
While waterfront construction introduces these and many other challenges to a project, Woolems welcomes every project as special and unique regardless of the challenges presented. We know and understand with full experience the finished project includes a spectacular connection with the outdoors celebrating beautiful water views, captivating sunrise or sunset, or maybe both, with access to an active lifestyle on the waterways of our great sunshine state of Florida.
This home on a lake uses many natural and sustainable features that will withstand the conditions of the area.