Pile Driving for Boat Docks in Knoxville and East Tennessee

Most pilings are driven with an impact hammer. A drop hammer on a crane lifts a heavy weight and lets it fall onto the pile. A pneumatic hammer uses air pressure to lift a heavy ram and drop it on the pile, over and over. Both drive the pile in by pounding it.

A vibratory hammer works differently. It clamps onto the pile, and weights spinning inside it shake the pile straight up and down. That vibration loosens the soil’s grip, so the pile sinks under the hammer’s weight and the excavator’s down-force.

• More control over placement. The operator controls how fast the pile goes down, which makes it easier to keep each piling plumb and on its mark.
• Less pounding. There’s no repeated hammer strike, and a vibratory hammer makes far less ground vibration than an impact hammer.
• One machine to drive and pull. The same vibration that helps a pile go in also helps break it loose to come out.

A new boat dock starts below the waterline. We set the pilings first, then build the framing, walkway and roof on top of them, with pilings sized to your lot.

Our pile drivers have been driving pilings for 20+ years, and they’ve done several hundred boat docks. They’re our own in-house team. We don’t hand the work off to subcontractors, and the same crews work every project. We take pride in that consistency and experience.

A new boat dock on a TVA lake needs a Section 26a permit before construction starts. We prepare and submit your TVA permit paperwork at no charge. You pay TVA’s application fee.

After years in the lake bottom, the soil holds an old piling tight. Our vibratory hammer clamps onto it and shakes it while the excavator lifts. The vibration loosens the soil around the pile, so it comes up with less force. That helps when you’re:

• Renovating a boat dock and replacing worn or damaged pilings
• Removing an old dock before a new one goes in
• Taking out a dock you no longer want
• Clearing a dock that a storm has damaged

Once the old pilings are out, the same crew can drive new ones and build your new dock.

We drive treated round wood pilings for most boat docks, and we can drive steel pipe pilings when a project calls for it.

We drive pilings from the lake. The excavator and vibratory hammer sit on a steel work barge, so the machine works right where each piling goes. The barge, the excavator and the vibratory hammer are all company-owned.

We drive pilings for homeowners, HOAs and community docks, marinas, and anyone else with a project on the water. That covers a single boat dock all the way to a larger shared dock.

We drive pilings for boat docks on Fort Loudoun, Tellico, Watts Bar and Melton Hill lakes, from Knoxville, Farragut and Louisville to Lenoir City, Loudon, Tellico Village, Vonore and Kingston. On Norris, Douglas and Cherokee lakes, we install mechanical lifts and Wave Armor drive-on ports.

We started in Knoxville in 2008 and have completed 500+ projects. Our own employees do the work, and nothing is subcontracted. Licensed & insured dock, deck, pool and pile driving contractors.