Seawall Repair in Panama City, FL

Panama City is the Bay County seat and the largest city between Tallahassee and Pensacola. It wraps around St. Andrew Bay, part of a watershed the Northwest Florida Water Management District sizes at about 740,000 acres, linking St. Andrew, West, North, and East bays with St. Joseph Bay farther east. NOAA's Panama City station averages about 1.3 feet between higher high and lower low water. In October 2018, Hurricane Michael came ashore just southeast of the city as a Category 5 storm. Much of the waterfront has been rebuilt since, and older walls nearby are still showing the strain.

Which Communities Does Our Panama City Team Cover?

Panama City is the regional lead for the central Panhandle and the Forgotten Coast. Our crews here coordinate inspections, scheduling, and permits for the towns around it.

On the Bay County beaches, Panama City Beach seawall repair covers Grand Lagoon and the St. Andrew Bay side of the beach, and seawall repair in Mexico Beach handles the canal system that took the worst of Michael's surge. In Gulf County, the Port St. Joe seawall repair team works St. Joseph Bay. West in Walton County, Rosemary Beach is served from our Destin hub, though it shares the stretch of Gulf coast where NHC measured Opal's surge at the Panama City Beach pier.

Seawall Repairs by Solid Foundations is an NCFI-certified polyurethane installer, holds Florida license CBC1267322, and has served Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina since 1996.

What Did Hurricane Michael Do to Panama City's Seawalls?

The National Hurricane Center's report places Michael's landfall near Tyndall Air Force Base, southeast of Panama City, with estimated sustained winds of 140 knots. NHC estimates 4–6 ft of inundation above ground around Panama City and St. Andrew Bay, and 6–9 ft near Tyndall.

Waterfront structures took direct hits. At the city's downtown marina, the city manager told the News Herald that vessels crashed against the marina wall, and the city approved the final payment on marina bulkhead repairs in January 2022. At St. Andrews Marina, built in 1960, the city began its post-Michael rebuild in October 2024 with bulkhead wall reconstruction as the main focus.

Why Do Panama City Walls Keep Failing Years After the Storm?

Surge damage isn't always visible right away:

• Voids behind the wall. Surge saturates the fill, then drains back through joints, carrying sand with it. The hole grows slowly until the surface collapses.
• Impact cracks. Boats and debris striking a wall crack panels and caps, opening new paths for soil loss.
• Toe scour. FDEP notes that vertical seawalls reflect wave energy and tend to erode the bottom at their base.

Check for soft spots, sinkholes, muddy water at the base after rain, and caps pulling away from patios.

How Do We Repair Panama City Seawalls?

On a wall that's still plumb, we work from the land side. Our crews inject NCFI marine polyurethane through small ports to fill voids, lock loose sand together, and seal joints. Read more on polyurethane injection for seawalls. Impact-cracked caps are cut back and re-formed, and walls that have started to lean can often be anchored back. If a section is broken through, we'll tell you it needs replacement.

Which Permits Apply to Seawall Work in Panama City?

Bay County's Dock & Seawall plan review checklist asks for engineered seawall design specifications, a site plan showing setbacks and equipment location, a notarized building permit application, a Notice of Commencement for work over $5,000, and, for projects inside Panama City, a city Development Order. The checklist also warns that environmental permits may be required.

At the state level, Florida Statute 403.813(1)(e) exempts restoring a seawall at its previous location, upland, or within 18 inches waterward from a separate FDEP permit. FDEP's Northwest District has a branch office in Panama City.

Book a free Panama City seawall inspection and we'll handle the paperwork.