This is what I did on vacation:

I made a new dock for the cottage in Canada.  The old dock was built about 20 or more years ago, nobody is really sure.  It had a useful life but last winter the ice caused the dock part to become detached from the crib and fall in the water.   Since Parks Canada no longer allows crib docks in this part of the lake, I had to construct a combination pole/floating dock.

This is the old dock when it was being taken apart:

Old crib dock being disassembled

Here I am working on one of the sections of the new dock:

New dock sections

They are made from 2×10 fir with heavy duty galvanized corner brackets and gusset plates.  I used 3/8 galvanized bolts to secure everything.  The decking is 5″ by 1 1/4″ ACQ deck lumber.  Treated lumber is only allowed on parts that do not have contact with water.  I used 24 inches on center for the decking support, it seems to be very sturdy.

Assembling an eight foot dock section

There are three sections, on 16′ by 4′ section that is attached to the boat house and supported by concrete filled poles.

The next section is an 8′ by 4′ floating section, and at the end is another 4′ by 8′ section forming a T.

This will allow the dock level to change with the water level, which can vary as much as 30 inches over the course of a season.

Since the cottage is on an island, it was easier to build the dock on the main land and tow it into place with the run about:

16 foot dock section underway

Once the dock was secured to the boat house, the poles were driven into the lake bed as far as they will go.  This worked out to be about 24 inches before they struck solid rock.  Still, these are 10 foot 2 inch schedule 40 poles:

Sixteen foot dock section secured to boat house

The main section is secure, the inspector is here and approves:

Code enforcement officers are a rough bunch

T section underway in the channel:

Towing T section into place

Pumping out the poles and filling them with concrete.  This should make them more rigid and better able to resist the ice movements.  The floating sections will come out during the winter.

dewatering support poles

filling support poles with concrete to make them more rigid

Construction is completed, now it is time for the test:

Dock under test

Test is successful

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