How to Build a Sea Wall
How to Build a Seawall
To live in a waterfront house is like a dream come true. However, people living in such houses have to face water problems, especially during high tides. The sand or mud around the house gets washed off and eroded excessively. One of the solutions for saving one’s property is by building a sea wall. However, before you embark upon building a sea wall for your property, make sure that you know the correct building procedure. Make sure that you have consulted the local authorities for the permission to execute the project, and also to get the best solutions for building a sea wall.
The first thing to be done whilst building a sea wall is to inspect the area and ascertain the perfect place or shoreline where the wall can be built. While deciding on the shoreline, consider the variations that the seawater displays. Make sure that you take into account the moment when the seawater was able to cover your property to the maximum level. Also, make sure that the shoreline is the area on the slope that connects your property with the sea. The sea wall has to be tall enough to be able to stop the water brought in by high tides. The wall should not end up being submerged under water in such situations. This is especially necessary in areas where the water levels and sea changes are completely unpredictable.
After this, mark some pointers at the shoreline at a regular interval of eight feet, where posts will be set up. Now start digging holes at the marked spots. This can be tough because the ground near the waterfront area is as solid as cement and the toughness keeps increasing as you go deeper.
So, try using a jackhammer for the digging purpose. The hole should be at least 2 feet in depth and approximately 10-inches wide. Now, place the posts in these holes. To secure the posts and make sure that they all have been evenly placed, use a string while placing them. The remaining area around the posts should be filled up with concrete so that the posts are secured in a proper manner. Give the concrete at least 24 hours to completely dry out.
Start cutting the boards according to the length between each post, which is eight feet. However, due to the uneven shoreline, there can be a problem in placing all the posts at an even distance. So, make sure that before cutting the boards you measure individual distances between two posts. The next step is to drill holes in the boards so that they can be mounted on the posts. For this purpose, individually measure the mounting points on the posts, and accordingly mark them on the boards.
While mounting the boards, make sure that somebody assists you so that the boards are mounted in a secure manner. The lower portion of the side of the board that faces the house should be filled with some gravel, crushed rocks and sand. After this, cover this filling with a layer of soil. It is advisable to place the boards on the outer side of the shoreline. This is because the damaged boards can be easily replaced without damaging the layer of gravel and sand, which has been placed on the inner side. Seal the lower portions of the wall with some concrete chunks so that it would not erode
easily.