Seawall Repair in Jekyll Island, GA

Jekyll Island is unlike any other town on our map. Georgia bought the island in 1947 for $675,000. Since 1950 it has been run by the Jekyll Island Authority, a state body, not a city or county. State law keeps 65 percent of the island in a mostly natural state, and homes sit on leased land. The island is about 7 miles long, with St. Simons Sound to the north and St. Andrew Sound to the south. Our St. Simons Island seawall repair crew is about six miles away and covers Jekyll's scheduling and permits.

Where Do Bulkheads Sit on Jekyll?

There are two kinds of shoreline. The ocean side is beach and dune. Much of it is protected by a rock revetment that the Authority maintains under state Shore Protection Act permits. The first phase maintained about 9,800 feet of existing revetment. A second phase covered roughly 16,000 feet, from south of Captain Wylly Road north to the Driftwood Beach trail.

The private bulkheads sit on the island's back side, along Jekyll Creek, which carries the Intracoastal Waterway, and the marsh around the causeway. That's sheltered water, but it isn't calm. NOAA's Jekyll Island Marina station on Jekyll Creek shows a mean tide range of 6.82 feet.

What Goes Wrong With Walls Here?

• Tide pumping. Nearly 7 feet of tide drains through any open seam twice a day. Fine fill moves out a little at a time, leaving hollows under the cap.
• Storm surge. During Hurricane Irma in 2017, water at the nearby St. Simons Pier rose 6.9 feet above mean high tide, a local record. Glynn County's emergency director said a nor'easter held water in the marshes so long that "there never really was a low tide."
• Erosion pressure. Driftwood Beach, on Jekyll's north end, is a field of tree roots left behind by erosion. It's a clear sign of how hard water works on this island.

How Do We Repair Walls on Jekyll?

We start from the land side to keep work out of the marsh. NCFI polyurethane injected behind the wall fills voids and seals seams without excavation. Learn about polyurethane injection for bulkhead voids.

Board replacement on timber walls, cap restoration and drain repair are covered under bulkhead repair in the Golden Isles. When a wall's top has leaned outward, reinforcing a tilting St. Simons-area wall shows how tiebacks stop the movement.

What Approvals Does a Jekyll Repair Need?

The Jekyll Island Authority comes first. Its building code says no work of any kind may start until the Authority has issued a building permit. After that, a Glynn County permit is obtained if one is required. The application includes plans stamped by an architect, engineer or landscape architect. Where they apply, it must show the state Shore Protection Act and Coastal Marshlands Protection Act lines. The work must be done by a contractor licensed by the Georgia Secretary of State.

The state comes next. Georgia DNR's Coastal Resources Division requires a permit for a bulkhead or riprap on a tidal creek or river bank. It asks owners to check with it before doing maintenance on an existing structure. Oceanfront work falls under the Shore Protection Act, which allows hard stabilization only when no reasonable alternative exists.

How Does Jekyll Connect to the Rest of the Coast?

Jekyll shares its sounds and marsh with several nearby areas. Just north, Sea Island seawall repair involves a private island with its own oceanfront structures. Up the coast, Darien seawall repair covers McIntosh County riverfront. To the south, across St. Andrew Sound, seawalls in Kingsland fall under Camden County.

Who Does the Work?

Seawall Repairs by Solid Foundations is an NCFI-certified polyurethane installer. We've served Florida, Georgia and South Carolina since 1996 and are licensed to perform marine construction in Georgia and South Carolina. Request a free inspection or call 866-398-9323.