Rustic Inn Crabhouse

For over 60 years, Rustic Inn has been serving fresh seafood to its clients. It has become the place to go in Broward County when you want to enjoy a good meal or celebrate with the family. A great crab restaurant needs great waterfront seating. So naturally, they turned to Sea Me Dive to make it happen.

Rustic Inn had an existing functional dock they were using, but it was not the standard they were looking for. The manager wanted to enhance the dining experience of the guests with a proper dock that provided a welcoming atmosphere and a front-row seat to the beautiful canal.

Sea Me Dive was asked to redesign the dock with an elevated frame and additional support pilings, which would make the interior and exterior one continuous level. The staff was thrilled with the idea, as the current layout had posed an obstacle most had tripped over at one point or another, claiming the lives of many dropped dishes. Management concurred, and we were given the green light to proceed.

Project Information

Project address:
Rustic Inn Crabhouse, Seafood restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Complete:
Upgrading dock
Project Type:
Commercial
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Project description

This project was conducted in multiple phases. Phase One required significant restoration repairs on the cap, concrete panels, and vertical pilings to allow for the safe construction of a new dock on top of it. Using composite rebar, structural basalt mesh, and 6,000 PSI grout concrete, Sea Me Dive was able to restore and fortify the seawall and cap, making it ready for the construction of the dock and Phase 2.

Phase 2 involved reconstructing the dock porch area. We built the dock frame using marine-grade lumber and stainless-steel hardware. The top decking was then finished off with industrial-grade composite boards. Two handicap access ramps were constructed on the east and west sides of the property, and the remaining dock on both sides of the restaurant was kept at its original height. With the entire complex now a single level, the staff and patrons could move about freely without fear of tripping, much to the delight of the dishes.
For Phase 3, we used the expertise of B&M Marine Construction to assist in the demolishing and complete removal of the existing floating barge along the eastern side of the restaurant.

At Phase 4, Rustic Inn commissioned a shipyard to construct a new party barge. Sea Me Dive acted as a consultant for Rustic Inn during the preliminary design process for the spud anchoring system. Once the barge was delivered and brought alongside the new dock, Sea Me Dive provided divers and jetting equipment to secure the spuds into the berm.

Sea Me Dive also installed the hydrostatic pressure release system Jet Filter™ in all seawall panels to protect and extend the life of the structure.

And with that, the project was complete. Rustic Inn now has a beautiful new addition to its restaurant. Loyal customers were quick to notice and approve of the exciting new dining space.