GAINESVILLE – “What’s up, doc?” is the catchphrase of cartoon character Bugs Bunny, but remove the comma and it’s a question and answer many who live on the shore of Lake Lanier are finding commonplace.
The majority of families living at Lake Lanier have boat docks; nearly all of those boat docks float. At this writing the level of Lake Lanier is 3-feet over full pool and predicted to rise as much as two additional feet. So what’s up? Undoubtedly, it’s your dock.
Already many dock owners are finding the walkways leading onto their floating docks in the water. The few dock maintenance companies in the area are inundated (pardon the pun) with calls of desperation from lakefront homeowners wanting their docks moved closer to dry land.
But is there a need to panic? Does something need to be done immediately? What are the consequences to docks that experience the sudden rise and fall of the lake’s level? What should dock owners be looking for?
Scott Twiggs has worked for Martin Docks for a long time. He is a part of the Martin family, Lake Lanier’s largest and oldest boat dock construction (and maintenance) business. He took a few minutes out of his busy (read: frantic) schedule to answer some of the questions above.
Scott’s grandfather, G.H. Martin, was an expert welder during World War II. Following the war’s end G.H. participated in the construction of Buford Dam. As the new reservoir began to fill a prominent Hall County business man needed someone to help him find a place to store his boat. That gentleman turned to Martin for help.
Twiggs said proudly of his grandfather, “He built the first dock for J.D. (Jesse) Jewell in 1956. It’s still on the lake today.” Twiggs pointed at a photograph of the Quonset hut style shelter commonly used by the military during WW II. “That’s how it (Martin Docks, Inc.) got started.”
Today Martin Docks still builds docks – nearly 100 a year – but repositioning and maintaining any dock, regardless of the original builder, is a major component of their business, as is the installation of erosion-controlling rip rap shorelines.
So what advice does Twiggs have for dock owners as they deal with the rise and fall of Lake Lanier?
“Safety first,” Twiggs said. “When your ramp’s under water everybody panics and wants to pull it in, and the first thing I would suggest would be ‘Unplug your power’.” If the dock’s end is so far underwater that such a move is impossible without wading into the water, then disconnect the power at the circuit breaker panel, whether at the shoreline or inside your house.
The second concern, according to Twiggs, is to see if the slack in the dock’s anchoring cables can be minimized. “When the water goes up the cables will get slack; when the lake drops…the cables will get tight.”
“When the lake comes up and your cables get slack, and the wind starts to blow, (the dock) starts to swing back and forth,” Twiggs said, gesturing with his hands. “Then it can get a running-go and snap a cable.” Twiggs said docks have been known to completely sever their connection to the owner’s property and drift into open water, even colliding with nearby docks.
But, he cautioned, once the lake begins to recede - something the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers will try to do as soon as possible – tension will build on those same cables and great care needs to be exercised when the stop-device on the winch is released: the winch handle will immediately begin to spin rapidly, releasing tension on the tightened cables.
“My best advice is ‘Don’t try to stop it.’. We had a guy that worked here that tried to stop it with his foot and broke his leg three times,” Twiggs explained.
Twiggs said, “When you’re working on land normally all the weight and pressure is pushing down (gravity); on a dock…pressure (buoyancy) is pushing up, so things can spring both ways and it can be dangerous.”
He also recommends that dock owners periodically check the hinge pin that connects the walkway to the dock, and to check for any broken or loose welds that hold dock components together. “On your hinge pin that slides through the hinge sleeve that holds your ramp to the dock, most connections have a bolt on one side (of the pin, holding the pin in the sleeve). Sometimes that bolt comes off, and as the waves work the pin will slide over,” coming out and disconnecting the dock from the ramp.
Twiggs said he has seen instances where the plastic casing that surrounds the Styrofoam blocks supporting the dock will develop holes or tears, and when water enters those fissures the foam block can become water-logged. “A float that would weigh 100-150 pounds brand new, when it’s water-logged may weigh 700-800 pounds.”
Twiggs advises dock owners to regularly inspect floatation for places where water might find access. He says these compromises often occur when lake levels are low and the flotation has contact with the lake bed.
In response to what actions are needed now for dock owners: Twiggs recommends to not panic, to know that as soon as possible the lake will be returned to full pool; to disconnect the electrical power to the dock either at the plug or the shoreline power box or inside your residence; to adjust anchor cable tension, being ready to re-adjust the tension as the lake level returns to normal; to use this opportunity to examine your dock for loose welds, bolts or hinge pins; and to check the integrity of the plastic casing around the flotation blocks.
Should you find a problem or need immediate help, contact Martin Docks at: (770) 536-0189.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/2/765893/the-ups-and-downs-of-living-on-the-lake