Choosing a design for your pier is an important part of the process. It can also be one of the most fun. Before you start with the fun, however, you need to check a few details. Probably the most important of these is the physical limitations of your shoreline and lake.

• How deep is the water? Can you use a dock that has legs or do you need a floating dock?
• What’s the lakebed? Is it good sand that will support a dock, or will the legs sink into silt and mud?
• Is there a gentle slope to the shore and lake bed that will allow you to use rolling dock?
• Will you need steps to get from shore to the pier?

ShoreStation, Porta-Dock, and Shoremaster all have a variety of dock types that can handle all of these situations. This means you have a lot of options for not only the type of dock, but the manufacturer, also.

Next, you need to find out what the laws are. If you live in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin DNR Waterway page has information on the laws governing piers, docks, and wharves. You should also check with your county and city or town governments to see if there are any local ordinances covering piers.

Now that you’re past that boring part, you get to start having some fun. Start with the basics: What do you need? How will you be using it? Make sure that it’s big enough to tie up your boat or that you can fit your boat lift next to it. Do you need room for a grill? Room for people to lay out and suntan? Enough space to get a really good running start for your super-duper big-splashing cannonball?

Once you have the absolute necessities figured out, you can start looking at the things you just want. A big T at the end? A large sundeck space? A spur that wraps around your boat lift so that people can get in and out from both sides? Diagonals in the corners so it’s easier to walk around?

ShoreStation has a fun program online that can help you design a dock that’s just right for you. The Lakefront Layout program lets you build any kind of dock layout you want, from the simple to the extravagant. It even lets you add all the accessories that turn your dock into something special. That, however, is for next week’s article.