Symptom guide
Common Bulkhead & Seawall Problems
Most seawall failures announce themselves well before anything collapses. These are the signs that matter, what each one usually indicates, and which ones warrant looking at sooner.
The short answer
Bulkhead problems fall into four groups: soil and water problems such as washout, voids and scour; structural problems such as tieback failure and wall rotation; material problems such as concrete spalling, timber rot and vinyl cracking; and interface problems at the cap, joints and returns. Identifying which group a symptom belongs to is what determines the repair.
Start here
What are you seeing?
Each tile opens an assessment request with that symptom pre-selected. Prefer to read first? Use the detailed guides below.
- Soil washing out behind the wallDips, depressions or disappearing yard along the wall
- Wall leaning or bowingThe wall is tipping waterward or bulging outward
- Cracks in concreteCracked panels, cap or returns
- Water coming through the wallSeepage, jets or streams through joints and cracks
- Deteriorating wood or vinylRot, splitting, brittleness or UV damage
- Exposed or damaged tiebacksVisible rods, plates, or anchors pulling through
- Missing or damaged wall capCracked, separating, spalling or missing cap
- Sinkholes or voidsHoles opening up, hollow-sounding ground, collapsing areas
- Storm or impact damageDamage after a storm, surge, flooding or vessel impact
- Not sureSomething looks wrong but you cannot identify it
How failures develop
Most of it starts with water finding a route
A properly built wall lets water out and keeps soil in. Erosion, voids, lost support and eventually wall movement all follow from that separation failing.
- 1Backfill lost from the yard — the depression is the last stage, not the first
- 2Open joint — water takes the easiest route out, and it widens each cycle
- 3Sediment carried into the waterway — your soil, in transit
- 1The void — far larger than any opening visible at the surface
- 2Root-matted crust still bridging the cavity, which is why nothing shows yet
- 3Soil exiting through the wall — the mechanism that created the void
Detailed guides
Every symptom, explained
What it indicates, what causes it, what an assessment checks, and what tends to happen if it is left.
- Assess promptly
Soil washing out behind the wall
Dips, depressions or disappearing yard along the wall
What this means - Assess promptly
Wall leaning or bowing
The wall is tipping waterward or bulging outward
What this means - Assess soon
Cracks in concrete
Cracked panels, cap or returns
What this means - Assess promptly
Water coming through the wall
Seepage, jets or streams through joints and cracks
What this means - Assess soon
Deteriorating wood or vinyl
Rot, splitting, brittleness or UV damage
What this means - Assess promptly
Exposed or damaged tiebacks
Visible rods, plates, or anchors pulling through
What this means - Assess soon
Missing or damaged wall cap
Cracked, separating, spalling or missing cap
What this means - Assess promptly
Sinkholes or voids
Holes opening up, hollow-sounding ground, collapsing areas
What this means - Assess promptly
Storm or impact damage
Damage after a storm, surge, flooding or vessel impact
What this means
The “assess promptly” marker reflects how quickly these mechanisms typically progress — not a judgement about your particular wall, which nobody can make from a symptom alone.
Next step
Still not sure what you are looking at?
You do not need to diagnose your own seawall. Send photographs and a description of what you have noticed, and get help identifying what the symptoms point to.