Seawall Repair in Melbourne Beach, FL

Melbourne Beach is one of the oldest towns on the Space Coast barrier island. It was incorporated in 1923, on the strip of land that runs from Cape Canaveral down to Sebastian Inlet. The town covers about 1.3 square miles, and roughly a fifth of it is water. On the ocean side, the town has managed its dunes with sea oats and sea grapes, and local reporting says it hasn't flooded in recent hurricanes. On the river side, homes face the open Indian River Lagoon, and those seawalls carry most of the town's marine repair needs.

How Does Melbourne Beach Work With Our Melbourne Team?

Melbourne Beach jobs are planned by our Melbourne seawall repair team, which leads Space Coast work. The mainland office is about three miles away, across the lagoon. Permits, engineering, and crew schedules for the south barrier-island towns all start there.

The town's closest neighbor, seawall repair in Indialantic, has the same kind of lagoon-facing riverside walls just to the north. Across the water, seawalls in Palm Bay sit on Turkey Creek and the canal network, which makes for a different repair mix.

Why Do Riverside Walls Here Wear Out?

• Open-lagoon waves. The Indian River Lagoon is half a mile to five miles wide and about four feet deep on average, and it responds more to wind than tide, according to the St. Johns River Water Management District. Waves break against the wall face, and water levels move up and down with the weather.
• Toe scour. Repeated wave action at the base of the wall removes the sand that supports it. Once the toe goes, the wall starts to lean.
• Storm damage from the ocean side. The National Hurricane Center reported that Hurricane Matthew in 2016 weakened the foundations of several beachfront properties between Satellite Beach and Melbourne Beach. Major storms also push lagoon levels up and dump heavy rain, and that loads riverside walls from behind.

Look for sinking pavers along the cap, open seams at low water, and cap cracks that keep getting longer.

What Repairs Fit a Melbourne Beach Wall?

• Foam void fill. NCFI marine-grade foam is injected behind the wall to replace lost soil and seal joints. See our polyurethane injection page.
• Joint and cap repair. The steps are covered on our West Palm Beach bulkhead repair page.
• Tiebacks. When the toe has scoured and the wall is starting to lean, seawall reinforcement adds anchors to hold it.

What Permit Does Melbourne Beach Require?

Work inside town limits goes through the town's Building department. On the state side, Florida Statute 403.813 lets you restore a seawall at its previous location, upland of it, or within 18 inches waterward without a separate Chapter 403 permit. Extending a wall farther out is different and can need state approval. Boats working the river follow FWC's Brevard manatee speed zones on the Indian River. We take care of the filings.

Is Riprap an Option in Front of My Wall?

Sometimes. A band of rock at the toe can break waves before they hit the wall and slow scour. Whether it fits depends on water depth, the slope at your wall, and what state rules allow on your shoreline. We'll tell you during the inspection whether it's worth pricing.