kyle wrote:
hi all,

i'm gearing up for my summer project.. putting two pilings in front of
my seawall (technically its on a canal of a lake).

1) my seawall is approx. 25ft long. my boat is approx. 21 feet long.
what is the typical spacing of the two pilings between such a setup?
i was thinking at foot marker 2 and foot marker 22 (20ft between
pilings). but what happens if I get a smaller boat, like a 17ft.? i
want it to work for a 21ft and a 17ft... since the 17ft would be
lighter, the extra distance on each side might not be an issue?


2) my 21 foot boat net weight is 2900lbs. i've talked to local dock
guys and they say 2500-3000 is about the max. i would want to go with
pilings sunk 10feet into the ground.. so it got me thinking.. WHAT
IF.. after I sink the pilings 10ft, I block off about 2 feet around
each piling, suck the water out so it's just dirt/piling, and then lay
a think ring of concrete around each piling, for stability? my logic
is that the dock man said the problem i face with a 2900lb boat is
that the piling may lean/eventually come out of place because of the
nature of pilings and how davits extend from them, etc.. so i was
thinking concrete would be a good extra layer of support.. then i
would just cover the concrete with dirt on top of it so no one would
even notice it.. what do you guys think?

3) i was thinking 10ft deep, 8 feet above ground, 18ft total for each
piling.. is 8ft overkill? should i just do 6? my seawall is only 2ft
above water line..

4) i was either going to buy a fitting for my hose and like a 5ft long
pvc pipe to sink the piling, or use my 2800 psi pressure washer. can
anyone recommend me either way?



thanks,


kyle

Good luck!
We still have hard water around here. Ice was 12" thick in Indy last
weekend!
Fredo