Seawall Repair in Atlantic Beach, FL

Atlantic Beach looks like an oceanfront town, but most of it is water. Census figures put the city at 13.17 square miles, and 9.49 of those are water. In 1996 the city pushed its western line all the way to the Intracoastal Waterway, so the marsh, the creeks and the Intracoastal banks are now Atlantic Beach jobs. That backwater edge is where the town's seawalls and bulkheads are. Atlantic Beach runs its own building division, but residents get county services from Jacksonville. Bigger projects are coordinated by our Jacksonville seawall repair team, which covers the whole St. Johns River and beaches area.

Where Are the Seawalls in Atlantic Beach?

Look west, not east. Seawalls here line the side of town where yards back onto tidal marsh or the Intracoastal. Atlantic Beach was incorporated in 1926 and grew outward after Naval Station Mayport and the Mathews Bridge opened the area up.

NOAA's Pablo Creek entrance station, where the creek meets the St. Johns near Mayport, has a mean tide range of about 3.8 feet.

Why Do Atlantic Beach Walls Leak?

Three things wear these walls down:

• Daily tide. Every falling tide pulls water out through any gap in the wall, and it takes fine sand with it.
• Storm water held high. During Hurricane Irma in 2017, the Mayport gauge peaked about 3.6 feet above the normal high-tide line. When water sits that high against a wall, the soil behind it gets soaked.
• Rising water. NOAA measures sea level at Mayport rising about 1.15 inches per decade since 1928. Caps built for yesterday's high tide get wet more often.

Which Repair Fits My Wall?

If it hasn't moved, the fix is usually filling the voids and sealing the joints. We inject NCFI marine-grade foam through small ports. It fills the gaps where sand washed out and binds the loose fill behind the panels. Learn more about polyurethane injection for hidden voids. For cracked caps, open seams and failed weep holes, our bulkhead repair service in the Jacksonville area explains the full set of fixes.

If the top of the wall has started tipping toward the water, sealing alone won't hold it. In that case, anchoring and reinforcing a leaning wall with helical tiebacks is usually the next step before the wall needs replacing.

Do I Need a Permit in Atlantic Beach?

Ask the city first. The Atlantic Beach Building Division enforces the Florida Building Code, and its own permit guide says the answer to "Do I need a permit?" is "most likely: Yes!" A building permit from Atlantic Beach is separate from any City of Jacksonville permit.

State rules come next. Under Fla. Stat. 403.813(1)(e), restoring a seawall at its old location, upland of it, or within 18 inches waterward of it is exempt from a state Chapter 403 permit. Work that goes beyond that may need FDEP or Army Corps review. We sort out which rules apply before we schedule anything.

How Does Atlantic Beach Compare With Its Neighbors?

The three beach cities share one island, San Pablo Island, with the Intracoastal as their western edge. Each has its own permit office, though.

• Directly south, Neptune Beach seawall repair covers marsh-backed lots much like the ones in Atlantic Beach.
• A bit farther south, seawalls in Jacksonville Beach take more Intracoastal boat wake.
• Across the county line in St. Johns County, seawall repair in Ponte Vedra Beach falls under county rules, not city rules.

What Happens at the Free Inspection?

We walk the wall at low tide, when the toe and the joints are exposed. We probe behind the cap for hollow spots and check whether the wall is plumb. You'll get a written recommendation: seal and fill, reinforce, or replace a section. Request your inspection here, or call 866-398-9323. Seawall Repairs by Solid Foundations holds Florida license CBC1267322, is an NCFI-certified polyurethane installer, and has served Florida, Georgia and South Carolina since 1996.