Oliver Lewis, the new proprietor of Nordic Marine, met with about 20 Lake Wenatchee property owners on Saturday, July 5th, to discuss bringing Pile Driving equipment to the lake this summer or fall to place new pilings, remove some and straighten or otherwise repair others. Mr Lewis has recently agreed to purchase Dawson Pile Driving of Lake Stevens. Dawson years ago placed many of the pilings on Lake Wenatchee that remain today. Nordic Marine was formerly owned by a Mr Halvorson who left some of his customers here at the lake feeling unsatisfied with his work. Oliver Lewis is aware of that and is working hard to overcome the negative feelings some have toward the former proprietor and the name Nordic Marine. I think we were all impressed with his candor and knowledge of his business.
Mary Cox has prepared an excellent summary of the meeting and that is provided below. If you wish to inquire about placing pilings at the lake please contact Mr Lewis at Nordic Marine by clicking on his name here: Oliver Lewis at If you do that please cc George Wilson also at gwwilson@nwi.net who is maintaining an email grouping of all interested parties.
The move-in fee for this equipment is $10,000 so if you are contemplating having any piling work done in the next few years this would be a great time to join up with your neighbors since the move-in fee is divided up between customers.
I have submitted a copy of the meeting notes below to the Chelan County shoreline specialist for his comment on the correctness of the remarks in those notes abouth the permitting process and I will post his response when it is received. He has indicated to me recently that if a resident applies for the permit for this work and the project does not go forward that a substantial part of the permit fee of $250 MIGHT be refunded.
Dock Pilings on Lake Wenatchee
Saturday, July 5 Meeting
Hello All,
These notes are from Mary Cox – if you have additions or corrections, please feel free to post them on the website! Thanks for a nice job, Mary!!
The owners of Nordic Marine Floats, Oliver and Vanessa Lewis, met with us and talked about pile driving on Lake Wenatchee, the services they provide, and how they can help. Nordic Marine is purchasing Dawson Pile Driving. Dawson many years ago did most of the original pile driving still in place on the lake. Nordic Marine was previously owned by a Mr. Halvorson and several folks on the lake felt his service was not satisfactory. Oliver Lewis has acknowledged this and is working hard to overcome the negatives of the previous ownership. Thanks to Hal Olsen coordinating the Saturday meeting………….
Contact information:
Nordic Marine Floats
800-850-3625
Marysville, WA
Prices – all prices are estimates as the price of steel and fuel are changing, and each dock job is unique:
· Pile Driving Prices
There are two parts to the price – mobilization and the pile driving.
1. Mobilization – $10,000 to mobilize to Lake Wenatchee, which can be divided between the customers. For example, if there are 10 customers who will have piles driven at the same time, then each would pay $1000. The fee is divided between each job, not the number of pilings.
2. Materials and pile driving
· To purchase a piling and have it driven in place: $2000-$3000. This consists of:
· Tubular steel 8” diameter piling with white epoxy coating: $55/foot. 30’ piling = $1650
· Driving the piling is about $500-$1000, depending – it could be more.
· To Straighten a Piling
1. Labor – 4 hour minimum, about $500-$800 plus mobilization fee. No permit is required.
· New Dock Prices
$35 per square foot. A standard-sized dock section of 8’x20’ would be $5600
Permits – Permits are required for pile driving and dock installations.
- JARPA application must be completed and submitted to Chelan County – Graham Simon. Cost $250
· They issue a Shoreline Permit or a Shoreline Exemption.
· George Wilson has spoken with Graham Simon who indicated he would issue a “master shoreline exemption” to a group working together to get their pilings/docks repaired.
· A permit is good for 3 year.
- Next step is applying to Dept of Fish & Wildlife for Hydraulic Approval – Bob Steel. Cost is less than $250.
· A permit is good for 1 year, but can be extended for up to 3 years.
- Nordic Marine Floats will do the entire permit process for a customer – standard charge is $2500 for basic pile driving/dock.
Schedule –
- Now is the time to act, given the offer of Nordic Marine to do the work and the offer of the “master shoreline exemption” from the county.
- Nordic Marine has a list of those at the meeting. They would like to look at each job.
- Schedule for work will depend on permits, jobs, high/low water levels, and other factors.
Other – To protect pilings and docks in the winter, Oliver recommended a small pump which continually circulates water and keeps it from freezing. They have had a lot of success with this and one pump can do a large area.
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