Waterfront Contractors in Gloucester

Gloucester waterfront

Dock, bulkhead and boat lift contractors in Gloucester

Gloucester County has some of the most waterfront in Virginia, from Gloucester Point on the York River to the Ware, Severn and North Rivers and the shores of Mobjack Bay. With so much shoreline, living shorelines, rip rap, bulkheads and long piers are everyday projects here. Below are local marine contractors who serve Gloucester. Contact them directly; there are no lead forms and no middleman.

Plan your project

Permits and planning in Gloucester

Most waterfront projects in Gloucester County start with a Joint Permit Application, filed online through the Army Corps and shared with the state agencies and the county. Work in tidal wetlands needs a public hearing before the Gloucester Wetlands Board, which usually meets at 6:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month in the Courthouse Office Building, 6504 Main Street. Once the county has a complete application, drawings and fee, staff visit the site and schedule the hearing. Applications are due about six to seven weeks ahead, and the county posts each year’s hearing dates and deadlines. The county fee is $250 for residential projects and $500 for commercial ones, including the newspaper notice, and a county wetlands permit is good for three years. For questions, call Environmental Programs at (804) 693-1217.

Gloucester also enforces a 100 foot Resource Protection Area along tidal shores and wetlands under the Chesapeake Bay Act. Land disturbance in that buffer needs approval from the county’s Chesapeake Bay Preservation and Erosion Commission, and any land disturbance over 2,500 square feet needs a county permit. If you are planning shoreline protection, expect the review to ask whether a living shoreline would work before a bulkhead is approved.

Help paying for it: the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission’s Fight the Flood program offers low interest loans for living shorelines, with grants when funding is available, and has offered extra funding along the Ware River. Apply before you hire. For a free look at an erosion problem first, the state’s Shoreline Erosion Advisory Service will visit your property and recommend a fix. Most contractors handle the permit paperwork, so ask when you get an estimate.

The Bay Act buffer: what you can build →
Do I need a permit for a dock? →
Bulkhead costs →
Dock and pier costs →
After a storm: what to check →