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Last summer, I took on one such an ambitious project: To build a dock in my backyard (which has a big river) for my boat. Where I live, dockbuilders are not in

by RajT88 2y ago

Last summer, I took on one such an ambitious project: To build a dock in my backyard (which has a big river) for my boat. Where I live, dockbuilders are not interested in coming out, and I wanted a permanent structure. About ~$1200 in materials and many bruised and scraped weekends later... I have something workable. For sure, if I had to do it again, I would do a better job, but it was very satisfying to have not just accomplished it, and have it look kind of OK and rustic, but also it survived the winter ice floes without issue. (Reason: The structure weighs ~7 tons)

paulb73 2y ago
I was imagining a wooden dock structure. 7 tons! What did you build it out of? Sounds impressive and hard wearing.
- whartung 2y ago
  It also reminds me of that phrase: “Anyone can build a bridge, it takes an engineer to build one that barely stands up.” As novices, it’s not uncommon that we overbuild things. Hard enough work to put it together, for sure don’t want it to come apart!
- RajT88 2y ago
  Some background: I found it impossible to bore into the river bottom to make post holes. Too many rocks and soon bedrock below those rocks. Second was an immovable boulder. So I made the boulder the anchor of the structure. I poured concrete slabs reinforced with rebar to form straight planes and set them in place with concrete filled cinder blocks. Once those were all reasonably level, I built up a wall around the boulder with cinder blocks. This part easily took the longest to get to. Next, the holes in cinder blocks I filled with concrete and rebar. The center I hauled all the river rocks nearby in the river bottom I could manage to fill the middle up. Then a layer of gravel over the top to make sure no concrete dripped down to the water line and I filled it up level to the top with concrete. I also had taken some really dense old growth trees felled nearby and poured concrete around the bases and set those in place (you want poles to help with mooring - I have a 20 foot boat). At this point I had a big concrete square with big posts sticking out. After that, concrete forms with bolt anchors so I could bolt down my wood dock onto the concrete. I mostly did all this myself. I did have a little help here and there - my neighbor helped get the wood dock in place, and I paid my nephews to help pour concrete one weekend when my fingers were all too bloody.

by RajT88 2y ago

paulb73 2y ago

I was imagining a wooden dock structure. 7 tons! What did you build it out of? Sounds impressive and hard wearing.

whartung 2y ago
It also reminds me of that phrase: “Anyone can build a bridge, it takes an engineer to build one that barely stands up.” As novices, it’s not uncommon that we overbuild things. Hard enough work to put it together, for sure don’t want it to come apart!
RajT88 2y ago
Some background: I found it impossible to bore into the river bottom to make post holes. Too many rocks and soon bedrock below those rocks. Second was an immovable boulder. So I made the boulder the anchor of the structure. I poured concrete slabs reinforced with rebar to form straight planes and set them in place with concrete filled cinder blocks. Once those were all reasonably level, I built up a wall around the boulder with cinder blocks. This part easily took the longest to get to. Next, the holes in cinder blocks I filled with concrete and rebar. The center I hauled all the river rocks nearby in the river bottom I could manage to fill the middle up. Then a layer of gravel over the top to make sure no concrete dripped down to the water line and I filled it up level to the top with concrete. I also had taken some really dense old growth trees felled nearby and poured concrete around the bases and set those in place (you want poles to help with mooring - I have a 20 foot boat). At this point I had a big concrete square with big posts sticking out. After that, concrete forms with bolt anchors so I could bolt down my wood dock onto the concrete. I mostly did all this myself. I did have a little help here and there - my neighbor helped get the wood dock in place, and I paid my nephews to help pour concrete one weekend when my fingers were all too bloody.