Seawalls / Rip-Rap / Retaining Walls
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After
Seawalls and rip-rap protect your property from eroding away. Though these structures are sturdy they do not last forever. Usually, during their lifetime they will require some sort of repair. This can be to the structure itself or to the land behind it that it is protecting. Seawalls exhibit two primary forms of degradation that can be repaired. One type is when the cap (usually concrete) begins to deteriorate and fail. Before this completely fails it needs to be rebuilt. The other type of degradation is when the dirt from your yard begins to erode into the waterway. When a seawall has reached its maturity it will begin to show signs of failure. Unfortunately, at this time it needs to be replaced.
Rip-Rap banks or revetment periodically will begin to fail by eroding into the waterway. Sometimes this can be fixed with a simple repair but other times the repair may be more extensive. It is important that the property owner make sure the construction performed actually repairs the reason for the failure and not just aesthetically replace the rocks. Doing this will result in having to perform the ‘repair’ over and over again.
A retaining wall is a seawall that is constructed upland of water. These are great for creating more usable and level property. Over time they can begin to show the same signs of degradation and failure that a seawall might.
