CountryByNet.com Forums :: small fishing pier

roujesky, I too intend to build a pier (one of these days) and think I will put a small tea house at or near the end. I have been thinking of ways to support the dock and room without driven pilings and still reducingthe chances of the thing sinking in the mud too fast.

So far the best I have come up with is to cast concrete columns with large feet at the bottom to spread the load. I intend this to be a DIY project and to cast the columns on site in place so they don't have to be moved or handled. I intend to use a large diameter plastic pipe split in half lengthwise as the mold/form. It will be held together with hose clamps and propped in place vertically. I will use either old tires or cut down 55 gal drums at the bottom to form the load spreading feet. Rebar bent at right angles will tie the feet to rebar in the column.

Concrete is very dense and will displace the water from the form/mold as you pour it in. I have watched boat ramps poured underwater. After the concrete cures sufficiently I will remove the hose clamps and pry off the split pipes to reuse them. If I deck the dock in as I go and use a couple temporary columns at the "deep end" I should be able to take my 1/3 HP electric cement mixer with me as I go. A shop built funnel made of OSB or ply will reduce the aiming requirements for pouring.

I am an experienced SCUBA diver and have a hookah rig so I don't anticipate much difficulty removing the hose clamps from the underwater portion of the column forms or similar tasks.

For your purposes maybe a floating dock would be better (simpler.) Most examples of docks around here are made of HD steel pipe and or angle iron. I suppose you could use something to spread the load like a giant flat washer and not sink into the mud with pipes for columns.

Pat

"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"

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