PDA

View Full Version : Want to build a boat ramp and need advice..Help



poncho-pwr
06-24-2006, 11:30 PM
I just bought a place at the lake and the previous owner had just gotten through extending part of the driveway in concrete 210ft down to the waters edge with the intent of building his own boat ramp. Well, to make a long story short I bought the place from the guys family after he passed away a few months ago and now I would like to finish the job on the boat ramp. The lake bottom slopes downward at a perfect angle for a good ramp but the bottom is too soft to use like it is. We could use it and have a couple times but it takes four wheel drive and leaving big ruts that we would have to back over every time we went in and out with the trailer. Could any of you give me some ideas on the best way to go about doing this? The driveway is concrete and 10ft wide all the way to the waters edge and I would like to extend the ramp from there to about 30ft or so into the lake. Any ideas?

TRUMP TIGHT
06-24-2006, 11:36 PM
I just bought a place at the lake and the previous owner had just gotten through extending part of the driveway in concrete 210ft down to the waters edge with the intent of building his own boat ramp. Well, to make a long story short I bought the place from the guys family after he passed away a few months ago and now I would like to finish the job on the boat ramp. The lake bottom slopes downward at a perfect angle for a good ramp but the bottom is too soft to use like it is. We could use it and have a couple times but it takes four wheel drive and leaving big ruts that we would have to back over every time we went in and out with the trailer. Could any of you give me some ideas on the best way to go about doing this? The driveway is concrete and 10ft wide all the way to the waters edge and I would like to extend the ramp from there to about 30ft or so into the lake. Any ideas?
A cheap quick fix for now would be lay some carpet down and stake it in.
Congrats on the house!

YeLLowBoaT
06-25-2006, 12:01 AM
1st make sure its legal to do.
If its a resivor your really lucky. you just have to wait till they let some water out( it will save you $$$$$, then grade and pore...) How much are you looking to spend? You could go from abotu a $100 for some sheets of ply to in the $10000s to pore a slab under water. It all really depends on what your location is like and how much you want to spend.

poncho-pwr
06-25-2006, 12:15 AM
If I could do it nicely for around $5000 or less I would be happy. Yes, I have checked with the authorities and it's okay to build the ramp.

YeLLowBoaT
06-25-2006, 01:51 AM
Well I would start with a good layer of aggregate. Since anything else you do will need a decent foundtation. That in itself might work for you. 5k is not alot of cash when you are talking about specialized concrete. Even if you keep the thickness down your still looking at ~ 5 yds.
The "BEST" thing you could do is wait til the water level drops and do it right.
I know of other things that you could do, but with out knowing the legistics of the area Its hard to point you in the right direction.

Red Horse
06-25-2006, 03:26 AM
Compaction and subgrade are going to make or break you. I am not sure how to do it when the water is up, but then the water is down you will need to compact the soil and then add sub grade to get a good foudation. With something like this that is prone to settle and drift I would put in some pylons. Basically holes about 18 inches in diameter about 2-3 foot down poured at the same time. Make the pad a min of 6 inches thick. I am not sure if tying in the existing pad is good or not. I have done thousands of yards or crete, but never underwater. Good luck :cool:

Old Guy
06-25-2006, 05:48 AM
Been there...done that. We live on a lake (had the place almost 50 years), and always needed a boat ramp. Lake bottom is muck. Many ruts in yard pulling boats out.
Dad was a cement contractor and had a dump truck. We eventually got a load of washed stone and dumped it at the waters edge. I thought maybe it would displace the muck and provide something to not get stuck on. It did seem to work, but he retired and got rid of the truck.
A few years later, I decided to put in a concrete ramp. A friend had a portable, small (360 gpm) irrigation pump that I borrowed for the job. I built a 3 sided box, using 3/4" plywood, about 6' wider and 6' longer than the ramp. We had to put plastic sheeting (the thin stuff you use like a tarp) on the outside of the box and hold it in place with sand bags. The water wanted to wash in under the box. I used a 5 gallon bucket buried in the lake bottom for the pump intake (so I could pump all the water out).
We then built a form and called the redi-mix truck. It worked quite well. The far end of the ramp needs to be at least a foot BELOW the lake bottom. If not, there will always be a hole at the end of the ramp.
I was about 35 and Dad was near 70 at the time. It was hard work.
The ramp worked perfectly until we enlarged the house making the ramp inaccessible. We removed the ramp and extended the seawall.
Good luck
Oh......just a note: Boat ramps are EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!! They get a coating of slime from below the water line to a couple feet above the water line. When it gets wet, it's very much like wet ice. Anyone stepping on it, WILL FALL DOWN. Several fell on ours (that's why it's gone now) over the years. My son has a shoulder that was permanently damaged on it 30 years ago.
I think if I was going to do it again, I would avoid concrete. People think they're gonna be careful. They fall and get hurt.
old

msc5195
06-25-2006, 08:02 AM
I watched a local set preformed slabs 6'x10'x8" via Large Crane. I believe he set 7 of them. The slabs were reinforced with wire and the had pad eyes on each end. the pad eyes had stainless cable threaded through them with a turn buckle to hold them together. This worked out great but may be over your 5000 budget.
Also look HERE (http://www.shawneesteps.com/boatramps.htm)

Mandelon
06-25-2006, 08:19 AM
I can think of a few different ways, but I've never done it. I am a contractor, but only one who wishes he lived on a lake.... :rolleyes:
Ideally, wait for the water level to go down.
Form and pour, but pour thick at the bottom edge, and I'd lay it over a foot of gravel too. Use a real rough finish, ridges are what they have at most ramps around here. They hurt bare feet, but aren't ever slippery.
If the level won't go down you would need to build forms and pump out the water as described above. A sump and pump make sense, and the forms would need to be high enough to keep most boat wakes from washing over their edges. You'd basically be making your own levee....Make them bigger than the ramp so you can work on it with a couple of feet to spare around the edges......
Prefab slabs....you could pour these your self on site and set them with a crane or similar lifting device. Heck, you could rig up an engine hoist or something and set smaller slabs your self. They'd have to connect together somehow....interlocking edges......it could work
May be easier just to call in someone who does it for a living though.....

msc5195
06-25-2006, 08:27 AM
Prefab slabs....you could pour these your self on site and set them with a crane or similar lifting device. Heck, you could rig up an engine hoist or something and set smaller slabs your self. They'd have to connect together somehow....interlocking edges......it could work
May be easier just to call in someone who does it for a living though.....
I agree fab up and pour you some 2' x 10' x 8" salbs with stainless eye bolts sticking out of each end then set them in place via rented boom truck. Lace the eyes together with stainless cable and a turn buckle. A couple cases of beer and a few steaks on the grille and you should be able to get your friends over to help set them in place.

Classic Daycruiser
06-25-2006, 08:42 AM
I watched a local set preformed slabs 6'x10'x8" via Large Crane. I believe he set 7 of them. The slabs were reinforced with wire and the had pad eyes on each end. the pad eyes had stainless cable threaded through them with a turn buckle to hold them together. This worked out great but may be over your 5000 budget.
Also look HERE (http://www.shawneesteps.com/boatramps.htm)
You will still need to dredge the muck out, so that the concrete slabs will be low enough in the water. If you ice up in the winter months, the concrete will crack and fall apart. Be sure to get the right mix.
Make sure to get the proper permit. I've heard horror stories of home owners cutting down the brush on the lakes edge to put up patios, and being fined 10 of thousands of dollars, and had to remove the structure.
Bartlett Lake in Arizona used strips of reinforced cement to extend the ramp when water levels got really low. It worked good for a year, but eventually the erosion sank a few of the strips, and it caused what looked like a street curb in the middle of the ramp. They fixed it by lifting the strips with a back-hoe and chain, and re-filled with aggregate, and placing the strip back into place.
Good luck...I do not know of any lake that would let you do this with out a permit.

Cheap Thrills
06-25-2006, 08:46 AM
From the Virginia department of game and inland fisheries.
(Push Method) is to form and pour the ramp on a thin layer of sand or crusher run, allow to cure, then push it into the water with a track machine. If the ramp is poured on shore, it should be on approximately the same slope as your proposed underwater slope to prevent the slab from breaking on a grade change. Concrete slabs that are moved into place must be small. A six-inch concrete slab 12 feet wide and 20 feet long weighs about nine (9) tons. Usually slabs longer than 20 feet are required to reach the appropriate depth. A six-inch slab 16 feet wide and 30 feet long weighs about eighteen (18) tons and can usually be pushed with a D-5 bulldozer while still maintaining reasonable control. Lifting and setting pre-cast concrete slabs on a prepared subgrade with a crane is a third method.
C.T. :wink:

sorry dog
06-25-2006, 10:00 AM
If you do the prefab method, make sure you put in a healthy mat of rebar so that it will stay together if it does crack... #6 every 8" would be a good size but maybe a PE here will run the formula for you for a beer or two. Allow at least 3 weeks for your slabs to cure so that you have 90% strength or better. Instead of a boom truck I would get a medium sized trackhoe for the weekend. That way you can scoop out the really soft stuff and replace with a load of rip rap (pushing the big stuff into the lake bottom with the bucket) and then top off with a few inches of #57. A 200 size hoe will lift around 8000 but you should be able to extend and handle 2000-3000 pretty well so size your slabs according to the size hoe you get. Another advantage of the hoe is that you will be able to work right next to or into water.
Also when pouring make sure the surface finish is pretty rough to help to before mentioned slime issues...think highway rumble strips.
BTW- you can pour directly in the water but obviously is a messier way, has environmental issues, and will require several hands that are willing to work.

YeLLowBoaT
06-25-2006, 10:59 AM
yeah but all of these methods are going to push him way past 5k. Hell I bet the mix and the bar for a 10'x30' x8" is pretty close to 5k.

Tom Brown
06-25-2006, 11:02 AM
We have some ramps that are made with 24x30" patio blocks. They work well and are easy to replace when they crack. They still work fine after they crack, though. All you really have to do is spread the weight over enough surface area that you don't sink in. It doesn't have to be a continuous pad. Blocks are fine and they're easily available.

Chico&Zeus
06-25-2006, 11:30 AM
The proper way, if you are legally allowed on the body of water is to first form the area and pump out the water, then drive pressure grouted micro piles at minimum 37 feet into the ground for the slab to be supported on, then install a good subgrade, rock or select fill, then use #4 bar on 12" centers top and bottom each way. and pour with minimum 3000 lb concrete, I would use a 4000 mix. The micropiles should be designed by a structual engineer that would need a soils analisys to make a solid decision on the quantity of piles and spacing. This is gonna cost some big $$$ but you could launch anything on this ramp.

mike37
06-25-2006, 11:34 AM
chain link fencing over a rock base cheep and fast

mike37
06-25-2006, 11:38 AM
some of you guys are making this way more complicated than it really is
it not a cal trans project for gods sake

mike37
06-25-2006, 11:49 AM
I just bought a place at the lake and the previous owner had just gotten through extending part of the driveway in concrete 210ft down to the waters edge with the intent of building his own boat ramp. Well, to make a long story short I bought the place from the guys family after he passed away a few months ago and now I would like to finish the job on the boat ramp. The lake bottom slopes downward at a perfect angle for a good ramp but the bottom is too soft to use like it is. We could use it and have a couple times but it takes four wheel drive and leaving big ruts that we would have to back over every time we went in and out with the trailer. Could any of you give me some ideas on the best way to go about doing this? The driveway is concrete and 10ft wide all the way to the waters edge and I would like to extend the ramp from there to about 30ft or so into the lake. Any ideas?
sound like you have an OK base if you have launched your boat there
so if you have concrete drive up to the water now if it is 6" thick
meassure back 30' cut a 12" piece out so you can push the 30" section into the water and pour new concrete to fill in the gap your good to go should be able to do it for 5K

ROZ
06-25-2006, 12:22 PM
Wonder how much a ramp from an old military landing craft would cost...

poncho-pwr
06-25-2006, 01:24 PM
Holy Shit!! Some of these methods would be way out of my $5000ish price range as Yelloeboat mentioned, but they sound like good ideas. I could spend a little more that 5k if need be but I really don't want to if I don't have to because I figure this deal will take about $1000 worth of beer. Good ideas guys, keep them coming. Oh yeah, does anybody have a formula for how many beers per person a project like this will take?
PS I have access to a back hoe and one of those little Bobcats as well as friends that know how to use them.

YeLLowBoaT
06-25-2006, 01:39 PM
Just go have a load of rock delevered. its cheap and your going to need it anyway. If it does not work your not really out anything.

poncho-pwr
06-25-2006, 03:27 PM
There is a guy here local that has 50yds of what he calls crusher run, will this work and how much should I buy?

rerfert
06-25-2006, 03:41 PM
Oh yeah, does anybody have a formula for how many beers per person a project like this will take?
I don't drink but the standard beer to work ratio/formula has always been 1 beer after another till job is complete.

sorry dog
06-26-2006, 07:16 AM
Crusher run generally refers to 3/4 crush stone base...often used for a base for blacktop secondary roads. It compacts easily but the little pieces of rock might wash away over time. Prices are higher now but a couple of years ago a 25 ton load around here was 250-300 delivered... but there are also lots of quarrys around here to choose from.
I'm not sure what California prices are so you should be able to prefab and meet your 5k budget if you consider your own labor free. You should only need one helper.
...or you could do like Tom and buy a chop saw to cut up sections of sidewalk from the local elementary school and use that.

Froggystyle
06-26-2006, 08:32 AM
This is your stuff right here...
http://www.whiteowl.com/files/landingmat.JPG
http://www.whiteowl.com/miscellaneous.html
I am not an engineer, nor do I play one on TV. I have however been in a situation to see this stuff be the absolute balls for your type of application. You need a good subgrade of rocks that are basically level, then you link this stuff together ( could be linked and welded on the existing ramp and floated or dragged into place ) and cover your rocks with it. It would be slippery as all get out pretty quickly, so you could weld .25" rods to it in a chevron pattern for traction... but the trailer doesn't need traction... it only needs level... and this would do it.
Plus, at $35 each for 10' wide by 17" deep, you could do your whole project for a couple of thousand. Figure 20 of them would give you a 28' deep ramp... more than enough for a biggish boat and would cost $700 or so. Add $600 for shipping from these guys across the country unless you could find them locally and you are at $1300 for your paving and way easy installation. Dump some rocks, spread them out... Dunzo!