Steel & Heavy Timber Bulkheads
The authorized work. Engineered shoreline reinforcement at the water line, built to a design the Corps has reviewed — the only route to a new bulkhead on Lake Lewisville while this authorization stands.
Lake Lewisville · Sole Permitted Contractor
The only permitted bulkhead builder on Lake Lewisville.
The Corps of Engineers stopped permitting bulkheads on this lake after too many failed. Shoretech is the only contractor they have authorized to build them since — steel or heavy timber, through December 2027.
How That Happened
The Corps closed this lake to bulkheads. Then they made one exception.
It took a year of permitting and an inspection of the finished wall.
For years, bulkheads on Lake Lewisville were built by contractors who did not know how to build them, and they failed. Walls leaned, backfill washed out, and sections went into the lake. The Corps of Engineers responded the way you would expect: they stopped permitting shoreline reinforcement on the lake altogether.
A Lewisville property owner pushed for an exception and brought Shoretech to the table. Permitting that single job took a year. Dave submitted the design, the Corps reviewed it, the wall went in, and then they came out and inspected it.
On the strength of that inspection they did something unusual — rather than reopening the lake to everyone, they authorized one contractor. Shoretech has been the only company permitted to build steel or heavy timber shoreline reinforcement on Lake Lewisville since, and that authorization runs through the end of December 2027, renewable.
Their reasoning was straightforward. They had spent years cleaning up after work that was not engineered, and they did not want to do it again. A design they had already reviewed, from a builder whose finished wall they had already inspected, was a known quantity.
Where The Work Is
Where a Lewisville project actually lives.
Shoreline reinforcement leads, because that is the one thing on this lake Shoretech is currently the only contractor permitted to build. Everything else follows from where the lines fall on your survey — the Corps boundary and the flowage easement. Until those are on paper, any design is guesswork.
The numbers a design has to answer to: conservation pool is 522 feet msl, the uncontrolled spillway sits at 532 and the top of the flowage easement at 537, with normal annual fluctuation of four to eight feet. Walls get sized to that spread, not to the day of the site visit.
1
Steel and heavy timber bulkheads
Shoreline reinforcement at the water — the work the Corps authorized Shoretech to do here, and the reason this page exists. Embedment, tiebacks, drainage and backfill are engineered to the lake's operating range and submitted as a design the Corps reviews, which is how the authorization was earned in the first place.
2
Retaining walls above the federal boundary
Erosion control and slope stabilization on the private ground you actually own, above the Corps line. Normal private construction, no federal permit involved — and often the right answer on its own when the bank loss is happening uphill of the water.
3
Rebuilds inside an existing permit
Repair, restoration and rebuild of a boathouse that already carries a shoreline use permit — decking, substructure, roof, lift and electrical — kept within what the Lake Office will approve for that permitted structure, where it already stands. The carpentry is the same trade as the docks and piers Shoretech builds on open lakes; here it stays inside the permit the structure already carries.
What Shoretech Offers Here
Services matched to what Lewisville allows.
Bulkheads first, because that is the work Shoretech alone is currently permitted to build here. New boathouses and new docks are not on this list — the Corps is not permitting them at Lewisville, for anyone.
Retaining Walls & Erosion Control
Slope stabilization and bank protection on private ground above the Corps boundary — steel, vinyl, FRP composite or heavy timber, chosen for the soil and the exposure rather than the catalog.
Boathouse Repair & Rebuild
Bringing an inherited, permitted boathouse back to working condition — substructure, decking, roof, lift and lighting — without changing where it sits. Repair and rebuild only; new structures are not being permitted.
Commercial & Public Waterfront
Marina, park, POA and municipal shoreline on the lake, where the client is an organization holding its own agreement with the Corps and the wall protecting it has a job to do.
The Work Itself
What a Shoretech shoreline looks like finished.
Lewisville walls sit on private frontage, so the shoreline work shown here is Shoretech's on Lake Conroe — same materials, same engineering, a different lake.
Finished bulkhead built by Shoretech on Lake Conroe, holding the lawn of a lakefront home.
Concrete-capped bulkhead line built by Shoretech on Lake Conroe, wrapping a whole subdivision shoreline.
Backfilling behind a newly installed timber bulkhead — Shoretech's work on Lake Conroe.
The photographs are captioned by the lake they were taken on, because that is how Shoretech would want its own work presented to a Lewisville owner: what the wall, the cap and the backfill genuinely look like when the job is done. Where a slip or an access channel has silted in on lakes that allow it, precision dredging pairs with the same wall work — material pumped for backfill reuse rather than hauled off by truck.
Questions We Hear
Lake Lewisville FAQ.
Can I even get a bulkhead permit on Lake Lewisville?
Yes — currently through Shoretech. The Corps of Engineers had stopped permitting shoreline reinforcement on this lake after a run of failed walls. Rather than reopening it to everyone, they authorized a single contractor working to a design they had already reviewed and a finished wall they had already inspected. Shoretech is currently the only contractor permitted to build steel or heavy timber bulkheads on Lake Lewisville, and that authorization runs through the end of December 2027. It does not make the permitting automatic — your own shoreline still has to qualify — but it is the difference between a wall being possible and not.
What does the December 2027 date mean if I'm planning work?
The authorization is time-bound and renewable, not permanent. Practically, it means the window for a Lewisville bulkhead is open now and has a stated end date. Permitting on this lake is not fast — the job that established the authorization took a year — so a project you want built under it should start as a conversation well before the calendar gets tight. Call 936-662-5100 and Dave will tell you honestly whether your scope fits the remaining runway.
Can I build a new boathouse or dock on Lake Lewisville?
Under current Corps guidance, no — the Fort Worth District is not allowing construction of new boathouses or docks at Lewisville. The bulkhead authorization does not change that. The lake is closed to new docks and boathouses and open to shoreline reinforcement through Shoretech; those are two separate decisions by the Corps, and only the second one went our way. We would rather tell you that in the first phone call than take a deposit for a structure that cannot be permitted. Confirm the current position for your own address with the Corps' Lewisville Lake Project Office at 469-645-9100.
I'm buying a house that comes with a boathouse. What should I know?
The structure has to pass inspection before a new shoreline use permit is issued to you — a five-year permit, currently $35, that is not transferable and does not travel with a later sale on its own. It also cannot be relocated from where it stands. Have the substructure and lift looked at before closing, not after.
What can I build on my own land above the Corps boundary?
That is normal private construction — retaining walls, erosion control and slope stabilization, with no federal permit involved. It is the right answer when the bank is failing uphill of the water; when the problem is at the water line, you are looking at a bulkhead instead. Either way the first step is a survey showing exactly where the federal line crosses your lot — a wall built a few feet the wrong side of it is a very expensive mistake.
Is Lake Lewisville inside Shoretech's service area?
Yes. Dave travels as far as a project warrants, and Lewisville is well inside the range Shoretech works across Texas and western Louisiana. Call 936-662-5100 to talk through access, scope and scheduling.
Nearby Water
More lakes in this region.
Around the Lake
Shoreline work by town.
The permitting is the same lake-wide. What differs is the bank you are standing on.
The Window Has A Date On It
The Lewisville authorization runs through December 2027.
It is renewable, but it is not open-ended — and permitting on this lake has never been quick. If a bulkhead is somewhere on your list for the next couple of seasons, the conversation is worth having now rather than against the calendar. Tell Dave where the Corps boundary falls on your lot and what the shoreline is doing; the design follows from there.