What does it take to build a new seawall on an exposed Florida shoreline?
A new seawall on an exposed shoreline is designed for the water in front of it as much as the soil behind it: wave impact, overtopping, toe scour, currents and storm surge. That means site-specific surveys, tide and wave data, soil borings, an engineered wall section with toe protection, and permits that are often stricter than for canal walls, especially in estuaries, lagoons and on the open coast.
When this service is usually considered
- A shoreline on an open bay, wide river reach or the Intracoastal Waterway is losing ground to waves and boat wakes.
- Storms have repeatedly overtopped or eroded an unprotected bank and damaged the upland.
- A waterfront property on an exposed frontage needs a vertical edge for boat access or a dock.
- A sloped or vegetated shoreline at the site cannot keep up with the wave energy it receives.
- A gap between two existing seawalls is eroding and flanking the neighbors' walls.
- An oceanfront structure is threatened by erosion and armoring is being evaluated under Florida's coastal rules.
What Makes a Wall a Seawall
A seawall is a vertical wall built to stand up to the water as much as to hold back soil. A bulkhead on a quiet canal mostly resists soil and water pressure from behind. A seawall on an exposed shoreline must also take waves breaking against its face, water pouring over its cap, scour digging at its toe and storm surge raising the water against it.
Many Floridians call almost any waterfront wall a seawall, so this page uses the word for walls where exposure drives the design: open bays, wide river reaches, the Intracoastal Waterway near inlets, busy channels and, in limited cases, oceanfront property. If your wall is on a narrow, sheltered canal or a small lake, Bulkhead Construction is probably the better starting point, and Bulkhead vs. Seawall explains the overlap.
Exposure Drives the Design
Fort Lauderdale's seawall master plan lays out the mechanics. Storm surge at the coast builds from the tide, wind setup, wave setup and the storm's low pressure, then travels into interior waterways through inlets. Waves breaking at a wall can erode the fill behind it even when the surge does not overtop, and the repeated wave loads can damage the cap or panels or reduce the passive soil pressure that tie-backs depend on. The plan ties vulnerability to fetch (the open water the wind blows across) and orientation: a wall facing waves head-on is more exposed than one where waves run parallel to it.
NOAA's National Hurricane Center adds a point owners often miss: storm tide is the surge plus the normal astronomical tide, and wave action on top of the surge can add feet to the water level a wall sees.
| Exposure | What it does to a wall | Design responses often considered |
|---|---|---|
| Long fetch or open bay | Larger wind-driven waves strike the face and overtop the cap | Heavier wall section, higher cap, paved or armored splash area behind the wall, toe stone |
| Inlet and channel currents | Scour at the toe, worst at ends and corners | Deeper embedment, riprap or mat toe protection, protected returns |
| Boat wake | Repeated small waves strip the berm that supports the toe | Toe stone, extra embedment margin, filtered joints |
| Large tide range | More of the face cycles wet and dry; toe exposed at low tide | Durable materials and cover in the splash zone; work timed to tides |
| Storm surge plus waves | Overtopping, saturated backfill, loss of support at the toe | Drainage and backflow design, elevated cap, robust anchoring |
Seawall Systems Used in Florida
- Reinforced concrete panels with king piles or batter piles and a heavy cap. In salt water the reinforcing needs protection from chloride corrosion through cover, mix and crack control.
- Steel sheet piling with a concrete cap for tall walls and deeper water. Fort Lauderdale's plan notes steel sheet piles are more commonly installed than aluminum or fiberglass and lists cathodic protection, coatings and extra sacrificial thickness to manage corrosion.
- Aluminum or fiberglass sheet piling, which the same plan notes offer increased corrosion resistance. The profile still has to be checked against the design wave and soil loads.
- Vinyl sheet piling, more often used where exposure is moderate. An engineer should confirm a given profile can carry the loads at your site rather than assuming it can.
- Toe protection and hybrids: stone or mats at the base to resist scour, and in some places a sloped revetment in front of or instead of a vertical face. See Riprap and Revetments.
Site Investigation for a New Seawall
What an exposed-site investigation usually covers
- Survey and bathymetry. Property and mean high water lines, plus the bottom profile in front of the alignment, since a deep or deepening bottom changes embedment and toe design.
- Water levels. Tidal datums from a nearby NOAA station and the mapped flood elevation. Fort Lauderdale's study, for example, confirmed top-of-wall elevations in NAVD 88 and checked base flood elevations on FEMA maps.
- Wave exposure. Fetch, orientation to prevailing and storm winds, nearby channels and boat traffic.
- Soil borings. Embedment and anchor capacity depend on what lies below the mudline, including soft layers or rock.
- Ends and neighbors. How the wall's ends will be protected from flanking, and how adjacent walls or banks meet it.
- Habitat. Seagrass, oysters and mangroves in or near the footprint, which shape both design and permits.
- Drainage behind the wall. Where overtopping and rain water will go, since a solid wall can trap runoff behind it.
Permits: Why New Seawalls Face Closer Review
- Estuaries and lagoons. Section 373.414(5), Florida Statutes, states an intent to protect estuaries and lagoons from vertical seawalls and to encourage riprap and gently sloping, planted shorelines. Under paragraph (5)(b), a permit to create a vertical seawall requires one of a few listed conditions: a port, a marina, watercraft access, public facilities, a public utility, or an existing man-made canal already lined in whole or part with vertical seawalls.
- Narrow exemptions. Section 403.813 exempts some seawalls in artificially created waterways and infill walls between existing seawalls that adjoin at both ends, follow a continuous line and run no more than 150 feet, each with conditions. Exemptions do not cover state-owned submerged lands authorization, local permits or coastal permits under chapter 161.
- The open coast. Seaward of the Coastal Construction Control Line, FDEP's CCCL program regulates structures that can erode beaches, destabilize dunes or affect sea turtles. Section 161.085 sets the state's policy on rigid coastal armoring, with permits tied to structures vulnerable to frequent coastal storms and gap-fills of no more than 250 feet between existing armoring.
- Federal and local. Work in navigable waters can need U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorization, and the city or county will typically require a building permit with engineer-sealed plans.
Because of these layers, permitting often shapes the design as much as engineering does. Start with the Florida seawall permits overview and confirm specifics with the agencies.
What Shapes the Scope of a New Seawall
Exposure sets the baseline. The design wave and water level determine the wall section, embedment, cap height and toe protection, and an exposed site usually needs more of each than a sheltered canal. Length matters less than you might expect compared with what happens at the ends, where returns and flanking protection can add real work. Access is the other big variable: barge work on open water depends on weather and tide windows, and land access across a finished yard means removal and restoration. Geotechnical findings and the permit path round out the picture. For planning context, see Project Planning and the Florida Bulkhead Cost Report.
Preparing for a Quote and What to Ask
Useful to have ready
- Your survey, any earlier permits and photos of the shoreline at low tide and during a windy day or high-water event.
- Notes on what you have seen in storms: how high the water came, where it went and what eroded.
- Information about neighboring walls or banks and whether they have been overtopped or flanked.
Questions to Ask
- What water level and wave conditions is the wall designed for, and where do those numbers come from?
- How is the toe protected against scour, and how are the ends protected from flanking?
- What top-of-wall elevation are you proposing, and does it meet local minimum or maximum rules?
- How will water behind the wall drain after overtopping or heavy rain?
- Did you consider a revetment or hybrid design, and why is a vertical wall the right choice here?
- Is your Florida license active? Check it on the DBPR license search (opens in a new tab).
Seawall Construction in Northeast Florida and Elsewhere
Barefoot Marine Construction, the Jacksonville company that owns and operates Florida Bulk Head, handles seawall construction requests directly in Duval, St. Johns, Nassau, Clay, Flagler and Putnam counties. Exposure varies sharply across that area. NOAA lists a mean tide range of about 6 feet at Fernandina Beach, and the wide reaches of the St. Johns River give wind a long fetch. The National Hurricane Center's Hurricane Irma report notes the St. Johns River set record flood stages at many locations in Duval County in 2017. Oceanfront lots along the Atlantic fall under the CCCL program. See Northeast Florida.
Outside Northeast Florida, requests are accepted through the independent contractor network Florida Bulk Head is building. Matching is subject to contractor availability, and no partner contractor is confirmed yet. See how the contractor network works.
How a typical project moves forward
- Request a QuoteDescribe the shoreline and what it faces (open bay, river, channel, inlet or ocean), share photos, and note storm or erosion history. Northeast Florida requests go to Barefoot Marine Construction.
- Site AssessmentThe site is evaluated for exposure: fetch, orientation, currents, boat traffic, tide range and bottom profile, along with soils, habitat, neighboring walls and access by land or water.
- Plan & PermitAn engineered design sets the wall section, embedment, cap elevation, toe protection and ends, and the permit path is mapped across local, state (including CCCL where applicable) and federal agencies.
- Build or RepairConstruction is sequenced around tides and weather: piles or panels installed, anchors and cap built, drainage and backfill placed, and toe protection set to the permitted limits.
- Protect Your PropertyAfter construction, watch the toe and ends after storms, keep drainage working and keep records of the design water levels and permits. The maintenance guide covers what to check.
What changes the scope and cost
Explore provisional scenarios in the Bulkhead Cost Calculator or read the Florida Bulkhead Cost Report.
An estimate is not an engineering evaluation
Contractor estimates and site assessments describe visible conditions and a proposed scope. Some projects require design or sign-off by a Florida-licensed professional engineer and permits from one or more agencies. See Florida seawall permits.
Frequently asked questions
Is a seawall the right choice for my shoreline?
Not always. On many natural shorelines, a sloped revetment or a hybrid with plantings can manage waves, and Florida law encourages those approaches in estuaries and lagoons. A vertical wall makes more sense where boat access, limited space or existing adjacent walls call for it. An engineer can compare the options for your exposure.
How high should a new seawall be?
Height is a design and permitting decision based on tidal datums, flood elevations, wave run-up and local rules, some of which set minimums and others maximums. A higher cap reduces overtopping but changes drainage and how the wall meets neighbors. No wall height stops every storm, so drainage behind the wall matters too.
Can I build a seawall on the beach?
Oceanfront armoring is a separate, tightly regulated category. Seaward of the Coastal Construction Control Line, FDEP's CCCL program applies, and section 161.085 sets out when rigid coastal armoring may be permitted, such as to protect structures vulnerable to damage from frequent coastal storms. Expect a detailed review that considers the beach, dunes, neighbors and sea turtles.
What is toe protection and why does it matter?
The toe is the base of the wall where it meets the bottom. Waves, currents and wakes scour soil from there, and once the toe loses support the wall can kick out or tilt. Stone, mats or deeper embedment are common ways to protect it, within permit limits.
Can a new seawall fill the gap between my neighbors' walls?
Possibly. Florida law exempts certain private infill seawalls that adjoin existing seawalls at both ends, follow a continuous line with them and run no more than 150 feet, if they meet water quality, navigation and flood control conditions. In estuaries and lagoons, vertical walls are further limited, so confirm eligibility with the agency.
Does boat traffic affect the design?
It can. Repeated wakes erode the berm that supports the toe and work at joints, so walls on busy channels often need more toe protection and careful filtering at joints. Tell the contractor how much traffic passes and what size boats are common.
Sources and references
- Storm Surge Overview — NOAA National Hurricane Center. Accessed November 2, 2026.
- City of Fort Lauderdale Seawall Master Plan: Summary Report — City of Fort Lauderdale (prepared by BCC Engineering), hosted by the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact. Accessed November 2, 2026. Section 2.5 vulnerability evaluation (surge, wave loads, fetch, orientation); section 4.10 sheet pile materials.
- Section 373.414, Florida Statutes: Additional criteria for activities in surface waters and wetlands — The Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine). Accessed November 2, 2026. Subsection (5) on vertical seawalls in estuaries and lagoons.
- Section 403.813, Florida Statutes: Permits issued at district centers; exceptions — The Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine). Accessed November 2, 2026. Paragraphs (1)(i) and (1)(o).
- Coastal Construction Control Line Program — Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Accessed November 2, 2026.
- Section 161.085, Florida Statutes: Rigid coastal armoring structures — The Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine). Accessed November 2, 2026.
- Tidal datums, Fernandina Beach, FL, station 8720030 — NOAA Tides & Currents. Accessed November 2, 2026. Mean range of tide 6.02 ft (1983-2001 epoch).
- Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Irma (AL112017) — NOAA National Hurricane Center. Accessed November 2, 2026. Record flood stages on the St. Johns River in Duval County.
Regulations, programs and conditions change. Always confirm requirements with the agency that has jurisdiction over your property.