Introduction to Dock Floats for Boat Docks

Dock Flotation (dock floats, float drums) can be defined as any device used in the construction of a boat dock that allows it to float on top of a body of water.

A floating dock will move up and down with water levels, contrary to a standing dock that is built on stilts which does not ever move. Most boat docks that are built on a water source connected to a dam are floating docks due to the effect dams have on water levels. When the dam opens up, water levels can drop several feet and if your boat dock is floating, it will lower down along with the water level.

In the mid-1900's, dock floats looked much different then how they look today. There were three primary types: styrofoam blocks, metal pontoons, and barrels. For many reasons, these primitive floating devices are now obsolete and are outlawed in most US states. Over the years styrofoam became hazardous to the environment, polluting lakes with small foam pieces that broke off little by little over time. Metal pontoons and barrels are hollow, so when punctured docks began to sink rapidly. Also, barrels that where once used to house chemicals were being re-purposed as dock flotation and started leaking deadly chemicals into our water source. Eventually the "encapsulated dock float" was developed and replaced all forms of dock flotation.

Encapsulated Dock Floats are plastic tanks filled with compressed foam used for dock flotation.

Dock floats are heavily regulated by state and federal government agencies and must meet a number of specific criterias, which is why HarborWare is one of only a handful of "approved" manufacturers in the United States.

Here are just some of the critical requirements.

• Approved by Army Corps of Engineers
• Approved by Environmental Protection Agency
• Passes Hunt Water Absorption Test
• Minimum Plastic Wall Thickness of .125" (Our average is .15")
• High Density EPS Foam (Our density is 1.0 - 1.5 lbs.)

HarborWare manufacturers 54 different sizes of dock flotation, as follows.

1' x 4' x 20" 2' x 3' x 16" 2' x 4' x 12" 2' x 4' x 16" 2' x 4' x 20" 2' x 4' x 24" 2' x 4' x 32" 2' x 8' x 24"

3' x 4' x 12" 3' x 4' x 16" 3' x 4' x 20" 3' x 4' x 24" 3' x 4' x 32" 3' x 8' x 16" 3' x 8' x 20" 3' x 8' x 24" 3' x 8' x 32" 3' x 10' x 16" 3' x 10' x 20" 3' x 10' x 24"

4' x 4' x 12" 4' x 4' x 16" 4' x 4' x 20" 4' x 4' x 24" 4' x 4' x 32" 4' x 4' x 36" 4' x 5' x 12" 4' x 5' x 16" 4' x 5' x 20" 4' x 5' x 24" 4' x 5' x 32" 4' x 6' x 12" 4' x 6' x 16" 4' x 6' x 20" 4' x 6' x 24" 4' x 6' x 28" 4' x 6' x 32" 4' x 6' x 36" 4' x 10' x 16" 4' x 10' x 20" 4' x 10' x 24"