Floating Docks & Gangways
Multi-level floating docks in steep rock coves, long gangways and approach walkways engineered to reach water at any pool elevation.
Lakes We Serve · Hill Country, TX
Boat docks, gangways and retaining walls on Lake Travis.
Two separate LCRA rulebooks govern this lake — one for what floats, another for anything you put against the bank. And the water moves further here than on any other major lake in Texas.
The Permitting Reality
On Lake Travis there are two permit tracks, and they are not the same office.
The Lower Colorado River Authority is the authority on the water — and one of the more permissive dock regimes in Texas, if you know which door to knock on.
Track one is the dock. LCRA Water Surface Management (512-578-2074, or 800-776-5272) handles docks and buoys. For a residential dock of 1,500 square feet or less, LCRA requires no permit and no fee — which surprises people arriving from Corps lakes. What it does require is compliance with the Safety Standards for Residential Docks on the Highland Lakes, covering flotation, lighting, access and anchoring. On Lake Travis specifically, a dock may extend up to 100 feet from shore, with a further 40 feet of clear lake access required beyond that point. Cross 1,500 square feet, or make the structure commercial or shared, and a permit is required. Those thresholds are LCRA's to change, so they are confirmed before a design is drawn rather than assumed from last year's project.
Track two is the bank, and it is a different rulebook with a different reviewer. Since 1 January 2022 the Highland Lakes Dredge and Fill Ordinance has governed dredging, filling, seawalls, bulkheads, retaining walls, riprap and revetment placed below the regulated pool elevation. That work goes to LCRA Water Quality at 3700 Lake Austin Blvd. in Austin. The ordinance is tiered: Tier I is a written notification to LCRA, Tier II and Tier III require an actual permit. Above the line, the Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance can apply instead. Establishing which tier a job falls into early is what keeps a schedule honest.
Upland, Travis and Burnet counties and the cities of Lakeway, Lago Vista, Point Venture and Jonestown each permit on their own account. And one thing worth stating plainly, because it is a common and costly assumption: this regime is Lake Travis specific. Downstream on Lake Austin it is the City of Austin, not LCRA, that runs dock regulation. Advice from a friend with a dock on the wrong lake does not transfer.
Whether a covered structure can be authorized over your slip, and at what size, is a question Shoretech settles with LCRA in writing before anything is designed — not something we quote from memory.
Designing for the Range
The widest swing of any major Texas lake.
Travis is Central Texas's flood-control reservoir, and its surface moves more than almost any other lake in the state. Conservation pool is 681 ft msl, the flood pool runs to 710 ft and the spillway crest is 714 ft. The record high was 710.4 ft on Christmas Day 1991. In drought the lake has dropped more than 60 feet below full, and TPWD characterises normal annual fluctuation as high — 10 to 20 feet.
1
Floating structures on cable or track
A fixed deck built to one elevation spends much of its life either stranded on rock or underwater. Floating docks running on long cable or track systems down steep coves are the norm here for good reason, and the anchoring, restraint and utility routing are designed for the full excursion rather than the comfortable middle of it.
2
Gangways and bluff access that stay usable
Most Travis lots put the house well above the water on a steep limestone bank. Getting to the dock means engineered walkways, hinged gangways and, on the steepest sites, tram and rail systems — all sized so the slope still works at both ends of the lake's range.
3
Anchoring into stone, not mud
This is Hill Country limestone: steep rock banks, ledges, bluffs and sudden drop-offs through the lower and middle lake, with rockpiles and boulder shelves and near-vertical cove walls. Limestone and granite shelf rock is common, so anchoring generally means coring and pinning into stone rather than driving pile through soft bottom. The upper end toward Marble Falls flattens out and carries more flooded vegetation and sediment.
4
Relocation and re-anchoring as ordinary work
Big drawdowns leave docks high, dry and out of position, and the refill leaves them somewhere else again. Moving, re-anchoring and re-cabling structures after the lake has travelled is routine maintenance on Travis in a way it simply is not on a constant-level lake.
Scope of Work
What Shoretech builds on Lake Travis.
Everything below is sized to the lake's vertical range and routed through the right LCRA track.
Covered Slips & Boathouses
Covered structures over the slip, designed to whatever LCRA confirms is authorized for your frontage and size — that answer is obtained in writing first.
Retaining Walls & Shoreline Stabilization
Walls, riprap and revetment on Hill Country limestone, run through the Highland Lakes Dredge and Fill Ordinance at the correct tier.
Precision Dredging
Slip and access dredging in the flatter upper-lake reaches where sediment has taken the depth, with material pumped for reuse rather than trucked off.
Around the Lake
Sixty-five miles up the Colorado.
Travis runs roughly 65 miles up the Colorado River valley with about 270 miles of shoreline, through some of the most valuable lakefront in Texas.
Communities we serve here
- Lakeway
- Lago Vista
- Jonestown
- Point Venture
- Volente
- Briarcliff
- Spicewood
- Hudson Bend
- Bee Cave
- Steiner Ranch
- The Hollows
- Marble Falls
Marinas, parks and ramps
- Mansfield Dam Park
- Pace Bend Park
- Collier Cove ramp
- Tatum Cove ramp
- Hippie Hollow Park
- Arkansas Bend Park
- Bob Wentz Park
- Sandy Creek Park
- Cypress Creek Marina
- VIP Marina
- Briarcliff Marina
- Point Venture Marina
- North Shore Marina
- Emerald Point Marina
- The Reserve Marina
Lake Travis spans Travis and Burnet counties on the Colorado River, impounded in 1942 behind Mansfield Dam, which the Lower Colorado River Authority built. Mansfield Dam Park has the deepest and most reliable public ramp on the lake. Published figures differ on two points and we would rather flag that than choose: TPWD and the TWDB's 2008 volumetric survey give 18,622 surface acres and about 190 feet of maximum depth, while 18,930 acres and 210 feet are commonly cited elsewhere.
Questions We Hear
Lake Travis FAQ.
Do I need an LCRA permit for a boat dock on Lake Travis?
For a residential dock of 1,500 square feet or less, LCRA requires no permit and no fee — but the dock still has to meet the Safety Standards for Residential Docks on the Highland Lakes, covering flotation, lighting, access and anchoring. On Lake Travis a dock may extend up to 100 feet from shore, with a further 40 feet of clear lake access required beyond it. Anything over 1,500 square feet, and anything commercial or shared, needs an LCRA permit. Thresholds change, so confirm the current numbers with LCRA Water Surface Management at 512-578-2074 before designing to them.
Is a seawall or retaining wall handled the same way as a dock?
No — it is a completely separate track. Since 1 January 2022 the Highland Lakes Dredge and Fill Ordinance has governed dredging, filling, seawalls, bulkheads, retaining walls, riprap and revetment placed below the regulated pool elevation, and it runs through LCRA Water Quality rather than Water Surface Management. It is tiered: Tier I is a written notification to LCRA, while Tier II and Tier III require an actual permit. The Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance can apply above the line. Which tier a job falls into is worth establishing early, because it sets the schedule.
Do the same rules apply on Lake Austin?
No, and this catches people out. The regime described here is Lake Travis specific. Downstream on Lake Austin it is the City of Austin, not LCRA, that runs dock regulation. Advice picked up from a neighbour on the wrong lake is one of the more expensive shortcuts available in this part of the Hill Country.
The lake is far below full. Is this a bad time to build?
For shoreline and bank work, often the opposite — low water puts retaining wall, slope and anchor work within reach from dry ground and shows exactly what condition existing pilings and cables are in. What it changes is the design. Conservation pool is 681 feet, the flood pool runs to 710 and the spillway crest is 714, the record high was 710.4 feet on Christmas Day 1991, and in drought the lake has dropped more than 60 feet below full. Nothing gets built to where the water happens to be sitting on the day of the site visit.
Will Dave travel to Lake Travis?
Yes. Shoretech is based in Trinity, Texas, and Dave travels as far as a project warrants across Texas and western Louisiana. Call 936-662-5100 to talk through the cove, the bank, the access route for equipment and what LCRA will want to see.
Nearby Water
More Highland Lakes and Hill Country water.
Start With a Conversation
Planning a project on Lake Travis?
Tell Dave which cove you are in, how steep the bank is, and what you want to be able to do at the water. The permit track follows from the scope — and the design follows from the range.