How much does lake bank erosion repair cost in South Florida?

The short answer

Most jobs fall between $50,000 and $500,000. The realistic minimum is about $10,000.

Four things move the price:

1. Equipment access
2. Permits
3. Depth and condition of the lake bottom
4. Length of shoreline

Those four things are different on every bank. We do not publish a price per foot, and we do not rank the repair methods by cost. The number for your bank comes in a written proposal with a price range, within 2 days of the site visit.

What moves the price

1. Equipment access

On a geotube job, the first step on site is a pre-construction review: we confirm the sections to be restored, agree access with you and stage the material.

For two other methods, access can decide more than the price. A Flexamat concrete block mat is excavator work: the manufacturer’s installation guide calls for an excavator and rated lifting gear. Riprap takes an excavator and a skid steer, and access decides whether it is practical at all.

2. Permits

A community’s stormwater lake is a permitted structure. Which permit a repair needs depends on where the lake is.

• In the South Florida Water Management District, stormwater lakes are designed with side slopes no steeper than 4:1 (SFWMD Applicant’s Handbook Vol. II, section 5.3.2(e)). A bank that has eroded steeper than that is no longer the profile the district designs to, and restoring it is maintenance of a permitted structure.
• Some drainage districts add rules of their own. Inside its boundaries, the South Broward Drainage District requires a district permit for any erosion restoration work.
• In other parts of South and Central Florida a different water management district applies, with its own criteria.
• A seawall can need up to four levels of approval: a city building permit, a county approval, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and, on navigable water, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

For geotube, Flexamat and riprap we prepare and file the paperwork, and the proposal says which permit your lake needs and how long it should take. For a wall, which approvals apply varies by city and county; we confirm it for your address. More in our guide to permits for lake bank repair in Broward County.

3. Depth and condition of the lake bottom

On a geotube job the lake bottom decides three things.

Where the sand comes from. We pump sand from your lake when it is shallow enough and the bottom is clean sand. When the lake is deep (we will not dredge it deeper) or the bottom is silt, we truck in clean sand. That adds to the price, and the work goes faster.

How many tubes it takes. The drop-off sets the size of the repair and how many tubes it takes. Where the water is deeper, we stack tubes like stairs: a submerged tube sits in front of and below the base tube.

A walk along the bank does not check the lake every ten feet. So a proposal can count one tube where the water turns out to need two. That is a change order, and nobody enjoys those.

Whether it is a geotube job at all. A tube needs a flat ledge under the water to sit on. Where there is no shelf and the drop-off runs past five or six feet, that is bulkhead or sheet-pile work, and we will quote it that way. No shelf changes the method, not just the price.

4. Length of shoreline

The fourth is how much shoreline is to be restored. The free site visit covers one lake. For long or deep shorelines, or several lakes, we offer a paid drone and sonar survey, above and below the waterline, before we price.

Why two bids for the same bank can differ

When the lower price is the right one

The site visit decides the method, and we say so when a slope is the better answer. For about six inches of erosion on a lake bank, a seawall is the wrong answer.

The South Broward Drainage District’s brochure on erosion protection and restoration gives the general rule. The cost of each method varies with several factors, and “the higher the degree of protection, the higher the cost”.

The fill can be a fair reason too. Where the lake is shallow enough and the bottom is clean sand, we pump sand from the lake ourselves. Clean sand trucked in adds to the price.

What a low bid can leave out

On a finished geotube bank the owner sees only grass. Two things under it do not show.

• The fill. Pump clean sand and it packs solid. Pump lake muck and the fines wash out through the fabric, leaving hollows the tube settles into.
• The tube count. One tube is counted where the water needs two. The second tube then arrives as a change order.

So put two questions to every bidder, us included. What will the tube be filled with? And how was the depth checked?

How you get a number from us

Step	When	What you get
Online estimate	Within 24 hours	A price range, not a quote. It does not name a method: the method is chosen on the site visit, never from a photo.
Free site visit	Within 7 days (usually sooner)	One lake. We walk the shoreline and check the drop-off, the shelf, the water control structure, the slope and where the water is coming from.
Written proposal	Within 2 days of the site visit	A price range, which permit your lake needs and how long it should take, and the schedule for your bank.

Our work carries a five-year workmanship warranty. The full terms are in your contract. The steps in detail are on the process page.

The free site visit and the paid survey

The site visit for one lake is free. We check the shelf under the water with a grade rod. The rest is a visual check.

The drone and sonar shoreline survey is a paid service, sold on its own, and you keep the survey either way. It does not rule out a change on site. It means the price starts from depths that were measured. More on the shoreline survey page.

How a board can budget

• Tell us your budget cycle. We ask on the site visit, and we write the proposal to match.
• Start from a range. The online estimate gives you a range, not a quote, within 24 hours.
• For several lakes, budget from a measurement. A board or a city can use the paid survey as the basis for a budget.

Responsibility for the permit does not run out. Florida’s rule says the entity that operates and maintains a permitted stormwater system “shall remain liable for compliance with the terms of the permit in perpetuity”, unless the permit is transferred or modified under the rules (Rule 62-330.310(6), F.A.C.). The Lake Worth Drainage District notes that this responsibility typically passes to the association. More in who is responsible for lake bank erosion in a Florida HOA.

Next step

We work in 21 counties of South and Central Florida. The free site visit covers one lake, and we come within 7 days (usually sooner). A written proposal with a price range follows within 2 days of the visit.