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Michael D. Stewart, P.E., LLC engineers seawalls, docks, boat lifts and the other structures that hold up a waterfront lot in Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Marco Island and the barrier islands. Michael D. Stewart, P.E., FL PE #72459, has practiced in Southwest Florida since 2005. We design seawall caps, tie-backs and deadmen, dock pilings and framing, and boat lift support piles, and we deliver signed and sealed permit drawings a contractor can build from. Structural engineering and architectural design sit under one roof, so a dock that comes with a deck or a house project stays in one office.

Seawalls, Docks & Boat Lifts
Canal-Front Lots in Cape Coral
Sealed Permit Drawings from the Survey
Elevating Homes on Waterfront Lots

Marco Island, Sanibel & the Barrier Islands

Plan Review Responses in Writing

What We Engineer on the Water

• Seawalls. New walls, including a new wall built in front of an existing one. The drawings cover the cap, the tie-backs and deadmen, weep holes, expansion joints and the anchors that tie it together.

• Docks. New docks and repositioned docks, laid out on a site plan drawn from the survey, with a piling plan, a framing plan, sections and details.

• Boat lifts. Support pilings for the lift and the details that attach the lift to them. When the lift is furnished by others, we detail the piles and the attachment to suit it.

• Decks on pilings. Waterfront decks framed on piles, with the boat lift on its own support piles.

Two-story custom home with a paver driveway and palm trees in Southwest Florida

Elevating Homes on Waterfront Lots

Many of the canal-front and island lots where we design seawalls and docks also hold homes that sit below the flood elevation. We engineer those homes too: lifting an existing house onto a new elevated foundation, or building a new living level on top of the existing home and converting the ground floor to garage and storage space with flood openings. See our coastal piling foundation engineering page.

Cape Coral Residential Home Engineering.png

Canal-Front Lots and Cape Coral Permitting

Cape Coral's residential seawall guidelines give an applicant two paths: the city's approved Engineering Design Standards, or signed and sealed plans from an engineer or architect. Either way, the application needs a site plan locating the seawall at the property line, plus details and specifications. We prepare the sealed plans when the owner or contractor wants a wall designed for that specific lot.

The city guidelines list a seawall slab inspection, a cap alignment and tieback inspection, and a final. A concrete dock adds a form and steel inspection. During clearing, excavating, jetting and backfilling, a floating turbidity screen has to enclose the work, and it stays in place for a set period after work stops.

Marine and environmental agency approvals are separate from the engineering. We engineer the structure and provide the sealed drawings.

When the building department sends review comments on our set, we answer them in writing and revise the drawings. That is part of the job.

Aerial view of waterfront homes along a canal in Fort Myers, Florida

Projects

• Caxambas Drive, Marco Island. Sealed permit drawings for a new corrugated vinyl seawall built in front of an existing precast concrete seawall that stays in place. The set includes a site plan from the client's survey, a plan of the cap, tie-backs and deadmen, and details and sections, with stainless anchors at each corrugation.

• SE 6th Court, Cape Coral. Structural engineering for a new wood deck on pilings, with separate support pilings for a 15,000 lb capacity boat lift. The work included a piling plan, a deck framing plan, sections and details, coordinated with our architectural permit set for the same lot.

• Bayshore Drive, Cape Coral. Design and structural engineering to reposition an existing wood dock on a waterfront lot: a survey-based site plan, a framing plan, and sections and details.

• Suncrest Lane, Englewood. A new residential dock with a boat lift and composite decking. The set shows the dock against the seawall and shoreline, the framing, a pile layout and schedule, and lift pile and attachment details for a lift furnished by others. We checked pile spacing against the 4, 6 and 8 pile lift layouts the contractor supplied. We answered the county's review corrections in written response letters and revised the layout after the county flagged the terminal platform size.

How the Process Works

1. Send us the survey and a sketch.

2. We lay it out. Site plan from the survey, then the piling, framing or seawall cap plan, with sections and details.

3. We sign and seal the set. You or your contractor submit it with the permit application.

4. We answer plan review. We respond to review comments in writing with a revised set.

Single-story commercial office building in Southwest Florida

Why a Local PE for Waterfront Work

We work with waterfront homeowners and their marine contractors. When the contractor supplies the lift layouts, we check the pile spacing against them and design the piles and attachment to suit, as we did on Suncrest Lane.

Our office is at 2827 SW 30th St in Cape Coral, and we serve Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties and the barrier islands. Michael D. Stewart, P.E. seals the drawings. When the dock comes with a deck or a home addition, the structural and architectural work happens in one office. See our Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Springs and Naples pages, or our home addition engineering page.

"I TREAT EACH AND EVERY PROJECT
AS A PERSONAL PRIORITY."

Talk to a Waterfront Engineer

Planning a seawall, dock or boat lift? Call (239) 292-7670 or send us a message with your survey and a sketch.

"HIGH-QUALITY SERVICE AND QUICK TURNAROUND ARE THE MISSION."

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need an engineer for a seawall in Cape Coral?

Cape Coral's residential seawall guidelines allow either the city's approved Engineering Design Standards or signed and sealed plans from an engineer or architect. We prepare sealed plans when a wall needs to be designed for the specific lot.

Can a new seawall be built in front of my old one?

In some cases, yes. On Caxambas Drive in Marco Island we engineered a new vinyl seawall in front of an existing precast seawall that stayed in place. Whether it works on your lot depends on the survey and the conditions at the wall.

Do you engineer boat lift pilings?

Yes. We design the support piles and the details that attach the lift to them.

Can you move or reposition an existing dock?

Yes. On Bayshore Drive in Cape Coral we engineered the repositioning of an existing wood dock, starting from the survey.

Do you handle the environmental permits?

Marine and environmental agency approvals are separate from the engineering. We engineer the structure and provide the sealed drawings.

Do you work on Marco Island, Sanibel and the other islands?

Yes. We serve the barrier islands, including Marco Island and Sanibel, along with Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties.

Can you work with my marine contractor?

Yes. On Suncrest Lane the contractor supplied the lift layouts and we checked the pile spacing against them.

Can you also raise the house on my waterfront lot?

Yes. We engineer elevated homes: lifting an existing house onto a new elevated foundation, or adding a new living level above and converting the ground floor to garage and storage space with flood openings.