Pensacola Seawall Replacement & New Construction

What is actually being replaced?

Mark the wall limits and all connected items: returns, cap, anchors, drains, steps, docks and utilities. Ask whether the old wall is removed, cut down or retained behind a new structure. The answer affects available land, access, disposal and the design detail.

Give each bidder the same survey and drawing. Descriptions such as “new seawall” leave too much unresolved when one bidder includes demolition and another assumes the old structure stays.

Why should alignment be settled early?

Florida’s seawall repair exemption distinguishes work at the prior location, landward and within a limited waterward distance. A proposed change needs to be evaluated against the full exemption and separate approvals. Do not use a neighboring wall as proof that your proposed line is authorized.

2026 Florida Statutes section 403.813 · USACE South Atlantic Division Florida regulatory guidance

Which wall material fits the site?

The USACE design manual treats seawalls, bulkheads and revetments as site-specific systems. A price per foot cannot choose the system or replace engineering.

Design of Coastal Revetments, Seawalls, and Bulkheads

Can the contractor reach the shoreline?

• Measure land access without assuming a truck can cross suspect ground.
• Identify trees, overhead lines, buried utilities and irrigation.
• Ask whether water access requires a barge and suitable navigation depth.
• Get written permission for any adjoining parcel or shared driveway.
• Define restoration for lawns, paving, docks and fences.

Plan the stages before handover

A finished-wall drawing may not explain how the site will function while work is underway. Ask the project team to walk through the construction sequence with you before setting access or household arrangements.

• What is removed first, and which structures remain in use?
• Who decides whether temporary support or protection is needed?
• Which inspections or checks must occur before work is covered?
• How are drainage, neighboring connections and utilities handled at each stage?
• What happens if an unexpected condition changes the next step?

Keep the agreed sequence with the approved plans and identify who authorizes changes. USACE advises raising changes to permitted work before proceeding; a change that affects the marine footprint should not stay only in a conversation on site. USACE South Atlantic Division Florida regulatory guidance

How do city and county routes differ?

City of Pensacola applications requiring plan review use MGO Connect. Unincorporated Escambia uses county Building Services. Santa Rosa requires zoning approval and a building permit for seawall construction, and its coastal application includes replacement. Check the parcel before budgeting the review path.

Pensacola Building Inspections · Escambia Building Services · Santa Rosa coastal construction · Santa Rosa coastal construction application

What should remain in your project file?

Keep approved plans and changes, material records, construction photographs, inspection results and the final scope. Ask who supplies any required as-built measurements and which open items prevent closeout. Separate an expected completion date from a confirmed inspection or approval.

Compare the repair alternative and organize all allowances in the cost guide.