Floating Docks for Marinas in Miami & South Florida.
Engineered floating dock systems for commercial marinas, yacht clubs, and HOA harbors across South Florida — concrete and aluminum floats, guide-pile anchorage, ADA gangways, and signed-and-sealed marina layouts.
Why floating docks are the right answer for South Florida marinas
Fixed timber and concrete piers were built for a tidal regime that South Florida no longer has. King tides routinely overtop low fixed decks; storm surge accelerates fastener fatigue; and the modern fleet — wider, heavier, and outfitted with utilities that didn’t exist twenty years ago — has outgrown the wharf it ties to.
A properly engineered floating dock system rides the tide, absorbs surge, and presents a constant freeboard to a fleet that varies in beam and draft. The economics work, too: floats are modular, repairs are localized, and a damaged section can be unbolted and replaced without taking the harbor offline.
Souffront designs, permits, and installs complete floating dock systems for South Florida marinas — from a single twelve-slip HOA dock to multi-acre yacht harbors with concierge utilities, ADA gangways, and storm-survivable anchorage.
Systems we build
We’re system-agnostic. We specify whatever fits the harbor, the fleet, and the budget — and we install it ourselves rather than handing the build off to a sub.
1. Concrete floating dock systems
Pre-cast concrete floats with a marine-grade concrete deck over expanded-polystyrene or HDPE flotation. The right call for marinas serving vessels over 40 feet, for harbors exposed to fetch, and for owners optimizing for 30-plus year service life. Heavier per linear foot, but stiffer underfoot, quieter in chop, and dramatically more durable in a hurricane regime.
2. Aluminum floating dock systems
Marine-grade aluminum frame with a composite, ipé, or aluminum-plank deck over sealed polyethylene float tubs. Lighter, faster to install, and the cost-effective choice for slips serving vessels under roughly 45 feet, residential community docks, and shallower bays where mooring loads are manageable.
3. Hybrid & specialty configurations
We routinely build hybrid layouts — concrete main runs with aluminum finger piers, or aluminum with concrete heavy-fleet wings. We also design specialty configurations for tender docks, fuel docks, pump-out stations, charter loading docks, and wave-attenuator perimeters.
- Float types
- Pre-cast concrete, marine aluminum, hybrid concrete/aluminum.
- Typical freeboard
- 18–24 inches above waterline at design load.
- Main-walk width
- 6–10 ft for commercial; 5–6 ft for residential community docks.
- Finger length
- 30–80 ft, scaled to slip beam and class of vessel.
- Anchorage
- Guide piles (steel or concrete), helical anchors, chain-and-clump for soft-bottom exceptions.
- Storm rating
- Mooring designs to ASCE 7 wind, Category 3 minimum; Category 4/5 by analysis.
Scope of work
Every Souffront floating dock engagement runs end to end — one accountable team from harbor master’s first call to permit closeout.
- Bathymetric & site survey of the harbor, including soundings, tidal range, fetch, and existing wave climate.
- Marina layout design in CAD: main walks, finger piers, slip count, vessel-mix optimization, traffic patterns, fire access, and pump-out routing.
- Mooring analysis under design wind, current, and wave — signed and sealed by a Florida-licensed structural engineer.
- Anchorage engineering: pile schedule, helical specification, or chain-clump design with hardware list.
- Utility design: power pedestals, potable water, marina-grade Wi-Fi, fuel, pump-out, and fire stand-pipe routing.
- Permitting: DERM, USACE, FDEP, local building department, and Coast Guard private aids where required.
- Demolition of existing fixed piers, including removal of timber piles and disposal under DERM-approved spoils handling.
- Installation of floats, guide piles, gangways, pedestals, and all utility tie-ins.
- Commissioning: load testing, utility energization, and a punch-list walk with the harbor master.
- As-built drawings and engineer-sealed final letter for the marina’s records and insurance file.
Anchorage & mooring
The float is the visible part; the mooring is what determines whether the harbor survives a storm. We engineer to one of three anchorage strategies — selected by bottom conditions, water depth, and design storm:
Guide-pile anchorage
Driven steel or concrete piles, sleeved through pile guides at intervals along the float. The standard for South Florida marinas with reasonable bottom and water depth between 6 and 25 feet. Pile schedule, embedment, and section modulus are engineered to the design storm — typically Category 3 minimum, with Category 4/5 mooring by additional analysis.
Helical anchor mooring
Chain or rod from the float to helical anchors threaded into the seabed. The right choice for deeper water, restricted-driving zones, environmentally sensitive bottoms, and retrofits where pile driving is impractical. Helicals are torque-tested at installation for capacity verification.
Chain-and-clump systems
For soft-bottom harbors and exceptional water depths, weighted concrete clumps with engineered chain catenary. Reserved for sites where neither piles nor helicals are economical; designed with a marine architect on the engineering team.
Utilities & pedestals
A modern marina runs on its utilities. We specify, install, and commission:
- Power pedestals — 30A, 50A single, 50A twin, and 100A for super-yacht slips. Marina-grade, UL-listed, with shore-side ground-fault protection.
- Potable water — anti-freeze risers, hose bibs at every slip, backflow protection at the upland tie-in.
- Pump-out — vacuum-system pump-out at fuel dock or distributed stations; lift-stations and force-main where required.
- Fuel — DEF, diesel, and gas dispensing engineered to NFPA 30A, with fire stand-pipe and emergency shutoff.
- Marina-grade Wi-Fi — distributed APs along the main walk, hardened for spray and storm.
- Lighting — DarkSky-compliant low-glare LED, with code-compliant egress and slip-edge marking.
- Fire — stand-pipe to NFPA 303, slip-side fire-extinguisher stations, egress clearly marked.
ADA gangways & access
Modern marina permitting takes ADA seriously. Our gangway designs meet ADA accessible-route slope at the design tide, with the appropriate transition platform at the upland end and a constant-grade gangway that flattens as the tide rises.
For commercial marinas we specify aluminum truss gangways with no-slip composite deck, hand rails at both heights, and curb plates. For HOA and residential community docks we right-size to the slip count and budget — but always to ADA where the harbor falls under public-accommodation rules.
Permitting
Marina permitting in South Florida is its own discipline. We carry the work through every agency:
- USACE — Section 10 / Section 404 nationwide or individual permit.
- FDEP — Sovereign-submerged-lands authorization, environmental resource permit.
- DERM (Miami-Dade) — Class I work permit, manatee protection compliance, water-quality conditions.
- Local building department — Structural permit, electrical permit, plumbing permit, fire-marshal sign-off.
- USCG — Private aids to navigation where the harbor footprint affects navigable channels.
- FWC — Manatee, seagrass, and turtle-nesting conditions where applicable.
Pricing
Floating dock systems are quoted by linear foot of dock plus a separate line for anchorage, utilities, gangways, demolition, and permitting. Souffront issues a fixed-fee proposal once the bathymetric and site survey are complete.
| Scope | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Aluminum float system, installed | $1,400 – $2,400 / LF | Includes float, deck, hardware; excludes piles & utilities. |
| Concrete float system, installed | $2,200 – $3,800 / LF | Heavy-duty for vessels over 40 ft and exposed harbors. |
| Guide-pile anchorage (per pile) | $3,800 – $9,500 | Steel or concrete; depth and bottom dependent. |
| Power pedestal, marina-grade | $2,400 – $7,500 / unit | 30A through 100A; includes upland feeder work pro-rata. |
| ADA gangway, aluminum | $45,000 – $120,000 | Length, freeboard, and rated load drive cost. |
| Permitting & engineering | 5–9% of construction | USACE, FDEP, DERM, local building. |
Ranges represent typical engagements. Final pricing is confirmed on the fixed-fee proposal you receive after the site survey.
Service areas
We build floating dock systems throughout South Florida — from Biscayne Bay to the Treasure Coast — for commercial marinas, yacht clubs, HOA harbors, and private estate docks:
Miami-Dade: Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Key Biscayne, Pinecrest, Bal Harbour, Sunny Isles Beach, Aventura, Fisher Island, Star Island, Venetian Islands, Indian Creek Village.
Broward: Fort Lauderdale, Las Olas Isles, Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Lighthouse Point, Pompano Beach, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
Palm Beach: Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Highland Beach, Manalapan, Palm Beach, North Palm Beach, Jupiter, Tequesta.
Florida Keys: Key Largo, Tavernier, Islamorada, Marathon.
Service areas
We deliver this service across South Florida — from Key Largo north to Palm Beach.
Frequently asked questions
A typical mid-size marina runs 9 to 14 months end to end: 4–6 weeks for survey, layout, and engineering; 4–9 months for agency permitting (USACE, FDEP, DERM, local); 3–5 months for fabrication and installation; and 2–3 weeks for commissioning and as-builts. Smaller HOA docks compress meaningfully.
Concrete is the right call for fleets averaging over 40 feet, for harbors exposed to fetch, and for owners optimizing for 30-plus year service life. Aluminum is faster to install, lower upfront cost, and ideal for residential community docks and harbors serving vessels under roughly 45 feet. We routinely recommend hybrid layouts — concrete on the main runs, aluminum on the finger piers — when that's the best economic answer.
Our default mooring designs meet ASCE 7 wind loading at Category 3 minimum, which is appropriate for the majority of South Florida marinas. Category 4 or 5 mooring is engineered by additional analysis and is recommended for harbors with severe exposure or for owners with insurance carriers that require it.
We handle it end to end. USACE, FDEP, sovereign submerged lands, DERM (in Miami-Dade), local building department, fire marshal, and USCG private aids where required. A typical commercial marina pulls 6 to 9 distinct authorizations; we manage the entire stack and coordinate agency conditions into the construction package.
Yes — and it's a substantial portion of our work. We sequence demolition of timber and fixed-concrete piers, remove the existing pile field under DERM-approved spoils handling, and phase the installation so the marina retains operating slip capacity through the project. Phasing plans are part of the proposal.
We install all of it. Our crews carry the electrical, plumbing, and pump-out trades in-house, and we commission utilities under one accountable team. Marina Pro, our facility-management software, then issues the work orders for the trades on day one of operations.
Where the marina is a public accommodation, yes — the gangway, transition platform, and main-walk geometry meet ADA accessible-route requirements at the design tide. For private HOA docks we design to ADA when the association requests it, and we'll tell you when it's optional versus required.
Marina Pro is engineered to onboard during commissioning. As-built drawings load directly into the asset register, every pedestal and slip is bar-coded into the maintenance system, and the first work-order cycle runs alongside the commissioning punch list. By the time the harbor opens, the software is live.