There’s never a dull moment at Seaside Seawalls! This summer we’ve been very busy constructing not only seawalls, but also decks, docks and boardwalks for many of our Michigan residential and commercial clients. Today we’re going to talk about a recent job we completed on Wolverine Lake, which is in Oakland County, Michigan. This lake is in the village of Wolverine Lake City, and has an approximate population of 4,415 residents. If you’re from Michigan, you’ll know that the State’s unofficial nickname is the ‘Wolverine State’. Wolverine Lake City is relatively small, and only about 1.7 square miles in area – 1.3. square miles of which is land, and 0.4 square miles of which is water. The greater Oakland County, in which the village of Wolverine Lake is situated, has a population of about 1,202,362 residents and a total area of 908 square miles (of which nearly 4% is water!) This makes Oakland County one of our most frequently visited areas in Michigan for seawall installation and other construction services.
This project entailed tearing out the customer’s existing aluminum piling seawall as well as disassembling the platform deck that was in place so that we could replace the old seawall with a beautiful brand new galvanized steel seawall! But of course before any kind of construction occurred, we had to obtain the necessary permits! This included getting the usual DEQ Permit, but also a special permit from 
the Village of Wolverine Lake. After all the formalities were taken care of, we began demolition and construction! We estimated the project time to completion at 3 to 4 days, and were pretty much spot on. After obtaining our two permits, we gathered the necessary equipment and materials we’d need for the job. They included a skid steer and an excavator for demolition and construction purposes, and galvanized steel, straw blanket, fabric liners, and riprap (a commonly used rock material to ensure the structure of the seawall remains intact and prevents against shoreline erosion) for the construction of the new steel seawall.
As previously mentioned, we first had to remove the customer’s preexisting seawall, as it was failing and causing numerous issues such as shoreline erosion. Shoreline erosion, which is one of the most common reasons Seaside Seawalls is contacted to construct and install a brand new seawall, is basically the wearing away of the land or beach caused by wave action and/or drainage issues. Over time, and especially due to the harsh and often extreme weather conditions we experience here in Michigan, the water line begins to occupy more and more 
of the property line (i.e. a customer’s waterfront property, such as a beach). Over the years, shoreline erosion will slowly but surely creep further onto your property line, eroding the land or waterfront structures you have in place. That is why having a good, sturdy seawall in place is imperative – especially if you have a waterfront property! You want to be able to enjoy the perks of living near the water, but you don’t want the water to come too close to your land! Having a seawall built helps to prevent the all-too-common problem of shoreline erosion.
The importance of having a seawall properly constructed could not be stressed enough. We see it all the time – seawalls that were poorly built where other companies cut corners to save time and money and are therefore not serving their intended purpose. For this particular seawall, we noticed that although it was about 8 years old, it was inched upward approximately 8 inches out of the ground! This was due to short sheeting, as the frost during the winter months had gotten under the pilings, forcing them upward and out of the ground. The aluminum seawall was also tilted forward toward the water due to a lack of tiebacks. 
Not having an adequate tieback system means that the seawall’s longevity and overall durability will be significantly reduced, and you will end up having to have multiple walls built or constant maintenance if the job is not done right in the first place.
To construct the new seawall for this residential customer, we drove 6 – 7 foot pilings into the sandy soil conditions. We also excavated a 15 foot by 12 foot inlet area and framed it with galvanized steel to match the new seawall. This inlet area was excavated 18 inches down and covered with a geo-thermal fabric liner on top of which we laid about 15 inches of screened beach sand. The brand new galvanized steel seawall we built ended up being 101 feet in length and 24 inches in height. We also backfilled the new seawall, put riprap at the toe of the wall, and staked a straw blanket over the backfill area.
Here is some additional information on Wolverine Lake itself: It is a 265 acre 
all-sports lake with approximately 1,740 households in the surrounding area. The lake was created in the 1920s from six other small lakes that were all surrounded by marsh land. A fun fact about Wolverine Lake is that every year on the 3rd of July, the village of Wolverine Lake holds a “Tiki Night” whereby waterfront property residents and their families and friends gather around the lake and place 6 – 8 foot Tiki torches on their properties and watch an amazing fireworks display that takes place in the middle of Wolverine Lake. This has come to be a widely celebrated tradition, as the estimated number of people in attendance last year was over 8,000 people!
If you are looking for a professional and reputable seawall company, look no further! Seaside Seawalls is made up of a team of dedicated and hard-working professionals who have the experience to help make your waterfront property dreams into a reality! Please feel free to contact us at Seaside Seawalls for your free estimate, and follow us on Twitter for frequent updates about the most recent developments and projects. We would be happy to hear from you and help you with the planning and execution stages of creating both an attractive and functional waterfront property!