Marine Construction in Lewes, DE

Coastal and back-bay water: Delaware Bay, the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal, the Broadkill River and Roosevelt Inlet — about 33 miles east of the shop.

Delaware Bay frontage at Lewes is as exposed as anything on the peninsula, with fetch running up the bay and a tidal range to go with it. A few streets away the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal is protected and the Broadkill is a river — three genuinely different engineering problems inside one town's limits.

Access. Easy road access throughout, with canal and river both workable from the water. We cover ZIP code 19958 and the surrounding Sussex County shoreline.

What that usually argues for. Bulkhead where the lot runs to the water and there is no room to slope, rip-rap revetment where there is. Anything built here has to assume the worst summer weekend, not the average day.

Shoreline work in Delaware is regulated, and almost anything built in or over the water needs approval from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. We handle that in house — preparing the plans, completing the applications and coordinating with the agencies.

Budget three to twelve months for agency review depending on the complexity of the project. It is the part of the schedule most people underestimate, so it is worth starting the conversation well before the season you want to be using the water.