The Town of Palm Beach Marina, the only public marina located on the 18-mile (29km) long barrier island between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean, completed a $40 million rebuild in November 2021. Working together with the Town’s consulting engineer, Baird, the scope of work included total replacement and redesign of the existing marina, and installation of a hurricane-rated Unifloat concrete floating dock system which was put through its paces with minimal ensuing damage by Hurricane Ian. Steel pipe piling with HDPE sleeves, installation of ADA compliant aluminum gangways and waterside utilities were included.
The marina is comprised of 84 slips, ranging from 60 to 294ft (18 to 90m) divided between three docks: the Brazilian, Australian and Peruvian. An additional 250ft (76m) structure, the Royal Palm Dock, was included in the project to accommodate superyachts through the use of side ties. Before the renovation, the marina was only able to accommodate one 200ft (61m) yacht, but with the completion of the project it has increased this capacity tenfold.
The design of the marina includes numerous features intended specifically for large vessels and superyachts. Bellingham’s Unifloat concrete dock was constructed with 14ft (4.3m) wide main piers, 8 to 12ft (2.4 to 3.6m) extra wide finger piers, and 30in (76cm) freeboard. To better accommodate the draft of larger vessels and superyachts, the slips were designed to have greater width and depth than average slips.
