The recent cold snaps could be more than a nuisance for homeowners who have docks that have been damaged by frozen bay water. When the water freezes around dock pilings, which are pounded deep into the flooring of the bay to keep a wharf in place, the tide can pull at the foundation, causing it to buckle or even float away. Newly installed pilings can pull even easier than those that have already had a chance to settle.
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| Photo by Jack Reynolds Frozen baywater flanks the Grand Larson fishing boat, docked at Viking Village on LBI. |
“We put the piles fat-end down, the skinny-end up so the taper’s going up, so as the ice is rising, theoretically the hole around the piling is loosening up so that it has a harder time grabbing the piling and heaving the ice,” said Fred Soper, vice president of Buterick Bulkheading, who has been working with the company for about 15 years. “A lot of times we’ll be putting 30- or 35-foot poles in 2 feet of water, not because they need to be that long for strength, just because it takes that much more resistance for the piles to heave with the ice,” he added.
Eighty percent of the time, the shorter pilings are usually the ones that come loose, but even larger piles can be severely damaged, said Soper. He said he once tried to pull a pile at Surf City Marina with a crane and a 30-foot jet, but it would not budge. Two years later, the ice came through and pulled the pile upwards 2 feet.
“I’ve seen the ice do things that I couldn’t, literally,” he emphasized. “It does have a lot of strength. The freezes that we’ve been having are pretty significant. We expect to see some ice damage this year, not that we need it,” he added with a laugh.
Work following Superstorm Sandy has mainly consisted of fixing house pilings, which many people considered a priority over dock work.
“If they don’t have a house to stay at, they don’t really need a dock so much,” said Soper. “But as people are starting to rebuild, people are starting to focus more on getting their docks and bulkheads back in order so they can use them this season. There’s a lot of people that lost last season.”
Calls for dock repairs began to trickle in again late last year. The combination of broken ice and high winds from recent storms may even be enough to take out whole docks, said Soper. He expects the damage to contribute to an even busier year of repairs.
Once the pilings heave upwards, they do not go back down on their own. Fortunately, the piles can be reset, and it is uncommon for them to slip out completely. It is usually just a matter of jetting them back down into place using a high-pressure water pump. A lot depends on how strong the dock is built and how it reacts to the ice, said Soper.
The pilings can also be pounded back into place, but doing so requires extra work.
“If we can jet them in without bringing in a 60-foot steel barge and a great, big excavator, it’s just more cost-effective, and the end result is ultimately going to be the same,” Soper explained.
De-icing systems can help prevent heaving from occurring. Soper recommends Kasko Marine De-Icers, which he considers “top of the line.” Aerators designed for ponds, the system blows warmer water up from the bottom of the bay and keeps it circulating to help prevent freezing.
“That’s the best way for people to protect their docks,” said Soper.
A bubbling system, which percolates water through a series of lines, can also help prevent damage. However, if the water gets cold enough, the system will freeze.
“Then it actually has the opposite effect, if they freeze, because then it’s adding that much more pressure. I don’t think it’s gotten cold enough for that yet, but I’ve seen it happen,” said Soper.
Homeowners sometimes tie barrels filled with water on their docks, but the local marine contractor said that is “more or less a gimmick.”
“Those barrels are about 400 pounds apiece, and if the ice grabs ahold of the piling, 400 pounds isn’t going to make a bit of difference,” said Soper. “I’ve seen docks up in the air, with the barrels hanging off of them. In my opinion, that’s a waste of time and money for people if they’re trying to protect their investment,” he explained.
Ice damage repairs are typically performed in the early springtime as frozen bay water makes it virtually impossible for marine contractors to execute their work. The Buterick Bulkheading team performs the repairs geographically, usually working from the north to the south end of Long Beach Island.
“There’s been years in the past where we’ve had four or five pages of pilings just to reset: two at one property, three at the neighbor’s, a couple more a couple blocks down,” said Soper.
The company usually receives many last-minute calls from seasonal residents who hope to have the repairs fixed within a couple of days, before their boat is brought in for the season. It is suggested that people who need repairs call one or two months in advance since ice damage usually affects multiple areas.
Buterick Bulkheading normally offers reset work and ice damage repairs as a service to current customers.
“We’re much better off building a new bulkhead and building a new pier, but to keep our customers happy and keep everybody up and going, and the marinas, we do ice damage repairs really as a service, not so much as a money maker,” said Soper.
Despite the fact that repairs can be a drain on funds when factoring in moving expenses and invoicing, the company will, of course, help whoever calls.
— Kelley Anne Essinger
This article was published in The SandPaper.
— Kelley Anne Essinger
This article was published in The SandPaper.
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