Living around Slidell means living around water.
Canals, bayous, lakes, drainage systems, and waterfront properties are simply part of life in Southeast Louisiana. For many properties, that also means having a bulkhead sitting between the yard and the water.
Most people don’t think much about that bulkhead when everything looks normal.
Then one afternoon somebody notices the top of the wall isn’t quite as straight as it used to be.
Or there’s a crack.
Or the yard behind it seems to be sinking.
Or the bulkhead is leaning toward the water like it’s trying to leave the property.
At E.C.O. Builders Inc. in Slidell, Louisiana, I’ve seen enough waterfront construction to know that bulkhead problems rarely begin on the day somebody notices them. What shows up above ground is often the result of something that has been happening behind or beneath the wall for quite some time.
Understanding why bulkheads fail starts with understanding what they’re actually doing.
A Bulkhead Is Holding Back More Than Dirt
A bulkhead looks like a wall, but it has a difficult job.
On one side is water.
On the other side is soil.
That soil has weight. Add Louisiana rainfall to it and the situation changes considerably.
Dry soil places pressure against a bulkhead. Saturated soil can place substantially more pressure against it, particularly when water becomes trapped behind the wall.
That’s called hydrostatic pressure.
Think of filling a swimming pool and then expecting one side of the pool to casually hold all that water back forever.
Water is heavy.
When drainage behind a bulkhead isn’t functioning properly, pressure can build. Eventually something has to absorb that force.
Sometimes that something is the wall.
Water Behind the Wall Can Be a Bigger Problem Than Water in Front
Water on the canal side of a bulkhead is obvious.
Water behind the bulkhead can be more troublesome because it isn’t always visible.
Heavy rain falls. The ground becomes saturated. Water works its way through the soil and needs somewhere to go.
If drainage is restricted, pressure develops behind the structure.
Over time, that pressure can cause movement, bowing, cracking, or leaning.
That’s why looking at a damaged bulkhead and simply repairing the visible crack may not address the actual problem.
The crack might be the symptom.
The water behind it might be the cause.
Sometimes the Dirt Is Leaving
Another common problem is soil loss.
Small gaps in a bulkhead can allow soil to slowly wash through. Erosion can also occur underneath or around portions of the structure.
At first, nothing dramatic happens.
Then a low spot appears in the yard.
Maybe a little depression develops near the bulkhead. Perhaps concrete starts settling. A gap might appear along the top edge.
Those can be signs that soil is moving somewhere it isn’t supposed to go.
Water is incredibly patient. Give it a small opening and enough time, and it can move an impressive amount of material.
Unfortunately, the yard usually notices eventually.
Anchors Matter More Than Most People Realize
A bulkhead doesn’t necessarily stay upright simply because the visible wall is strong.
Many systems rely on anchors, tie rods, pilings, deadmen, or other structural components behind the wall.
Those components help resist the pressure trying to push the bulkhead toward the water.
If an anchor deteriorates, a connection fails, or surrounding soil conditions change, part of the wall can begin moving.
That’s one reason a bulkhead might lean significantly in one section while another section still looks reasonably straight.
The problem may not be the panel itself.
The problem could be several feet behind it.
Materials Don’t Last Forever
Bulkheads can be built from wood, concrete, steel, vinyl, composite materials, or combinations of materials.
Every material behaves differently over time.
Wood can deteriorate from moisture, organisms, and long-term exposure. Steel can corrode. Concrete can crack or spall. Connections can weaken. Fasteners can deteriorate.
Waterfront construction has a particularly tough life.
- There’s moisture.
- There’s soil.
- There’s movement.
- There’s weather.
- There are boats.
And because this is South Louisiana, occasionally Mother Nature decides to throw a hurricane into the inspection schedule.
Age alone doesn’t mean a bulkhead has failed, but older structures deserve attention when visible changes start appearing.
Boat Traffic Can Play a Role
Boat wakes may seem harmless, especially when each individual wake is relatively small.
The issue is repetition.
Wave action repeatedly moves water against the bulkhead and surrounding shoreline. Over long periods, that movement can contribute to erosion and stress.
Larger wakes, changing water levels, currents, floating debris, and direct impacts can add additional forces.
A quiet residential canal and a heavily traveled waterway create very different environments for a waterfront structure.
That environment needs to be considered when evaluating deterioration.
Hurricanes Don’t Exactly Help
Then there are storms.
Storm surge can rapidly change water levels. Heavy rain saturates soil. Waves become stronger. Debris moves through the water.
A bulkhead that already has weakened components can experience considerably different forces during a tropical storm or hurricane.
The tricky part is that damage isn’t always dramatic afterward.
Everything may still be standing.
Months later, a lean becomes noticeable.
Then a crack appears.
Then the yard starts sinking.
The storm may not have created the entire problem, but it could have accelerated an existing one.
Don’t Ignore Movement
Bulkheads generally don’t lean because they suddenly developed a personality.
Movement means something changed.
- Maybe drainage changed.
- Maybe soil disappeared.
- Maybe an anchor deteriorated.
- Maybe the material itself weakened.
- Maybe several things happened at once.
The important part is understanding that the visible damage doesn’t always tell the whole story.
A crack can be patched.
A leaning section can sometimes be addressed.
But determining why the movement occurred matters just as much as seeing the movement itself.
A bulkhead is a system involving water, soil, drainage, materials, anchors, and environmental forces.
When one part of that system stops doing its job, another part usually starts complaining.
And when a bulkhead starts complaining, it has a pretty simple vocabulary.
- It leans.
- It cracks.
- Or eventually, it lets go.
