Marine Construction in Duval County, Florida

Duval County is where we are based and where most of our work is. Our office is at 10945 Patton Rd in Jacksonville, and our crews work this county every week.

Duval has an unusually varied set of waterfront conditions for a single county. The St. Johns runs through the middle of it and changes character considerably along its length — narrow and sheltered in places, wide with real fetch in others. Add the Intracoastal, the Trout and Ortega rivers, and a network of tidal creeks, and you have properties a few miles apart that need genuinely different structures.

The water in Duval County

Conditions vary considerably within the county, which is why we assess exposure at your specific property rather than applying a county-wide answer.

• St. Johns River — Varies from sheltered to substantial fetch depending on the reach. Exposure assessment matters here more than anywhere.
• Intracoastal Waterway — Continuous boat wake is often the governing load rather than wind-driven waves.
• Trout River and Ortega River — Generally more sheltered, with their own tidal and soil characteristics.
• Tidal creeks and canals — Lower energy, but soil conditions and access are frequently the harder problems.

What this means for your structure

• Tidal range on the St. Johns means structures work across a moving water level every day.
• Brackish water through much of the county — aggressive on timber and on steel hardware alike.
• Boat wake on the Intracoastal and the main river channels is a near-continuous load.
• Storm surge and nor’easter water levels are a design consideration, not an afterthought.

What we do in Duval County

Everything we do elsewhere on the First Coast. The three services that make up most of our work:

• Bulkheads — construction, repair, replacement and storm damage
• Seawalls — construction, repair, chemical grout injection, concrete cap and wall repair and void filling and soil stabilization
• Dock construction — custom, residential, commercial and municipal, and repair and restoration

Plus pile driving and jacketing, boathouses and boat lifts, erosion control, inspections, permitting and debris removal and marina maintenance. The full service list is here.

Permitting in Duval County

Work in Duval County may involve the City of Jacksonville alongside FDEP, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the St. Johns River Water Management District.

Which agencies apply, and what each wants to see, depends on your site and scope — and the requirements are revised periodically. Treat this as orientation and confirm current requirements with each reviewing agency. We handle permitting on the projects we build, which is normally the longest item in a project schedule.