Pile, decking and pontoon repairs on a waterway that sits inside a marine park and spans two council areas. Tell us about the job.
Get a Quote →Port Stephens is one of the largest natural harbours in the Southern Hemisphere, and its jetties face a unique mix of ocean swell penetration, tidal scour and marine borer activity. Structures on the southern shore around Nelson Bay, Soldiers Point and Salamander Bay are more exposed than the sheltered northern arms near Lemon Tree Passage and Karuah.
The harbour's sandy substrate means piles can lose embedment during storm events, while the clear oceanic water supports aggressive Teredo and Limnoria borer populations year-round. Jetties at Soldiers Point marina precinct and Corlette cop the heaviest wear from boat wash and tidal current.
Repairs here usually begin with a structural survey — pile sounding, cross-brace inspection and decking assessment — before targeted repairs are scoped using H6-treated hardwood, 316 stainless hardware and marine-grade fastenings rated for the salt environment.
Extract borer-eaten or fractured piles and drive new H6-treated hardwood replacements into Port Stephens' sandy harbour floor. Cost per pile depends on length, timber species and how deep it needs to be driven.
Replace weathered decking, headstocks and cross-bracing with marine-grade timber. All fixings upgraded to 316 stainless for corrosion resistance in salt water.
Re-float sinking pontoons, replace guide-pile rollers and service gangway connections. Common across Soldiers Point and Nelson Bay marina berths.
Detailed above- and below-water inspection with pile-sounding data, load assessment and prioritised repair schedule.
Port Stephens is exposed to east coast lows that push ocean swell deep into the harbour. If your jetty has taken a hit, send us the details.
On a Port Stephens jetty the trouble usually starts in the piles. Timber goes soft in the band between low and high tide, where the borers get in, and a pile in sand scours out in a blow. Headstocks and bearers rot around the bolt holes first. We sound every pile to see how much solid timber is left. One with enough left can be braced or sleeved. One that is past that gets pulled and a new H6-treated hardwood pile driven in its place, deeper if the old one had scoured. Rotten headstocks, bearers and boards come out and new timber goes in on 316 stainless. A pontoon riding low has floats that have taken water, so we fit new floats.
What changes the job is the map. The NSW Government's estuary profile classes Port Stephens as a drowned valley: 134.4 square kilometres of water with a 296.8 square kilometre catchment, permanently linked to the ocean through a large, deep entrance. Start with the marine park. Mapping by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) places the port inside the Port Stephens – Great Lakes Marine Park. Sanctuary zones include Salamander Bay, Cromartys Bay and Fame Cove. Special purpose zones include Soldiers Point, Lemon Tree Passage and Nelson Bay Marina. Habitat protection zones include Soldiers Point and Tilligerry Creek. Your zone decides what extra marine park approvals and restrictions apply: whether we can pull a pile and drive new or have to sleeve it, where the barge can anchor, how much of the bottom we can disturb, and what is signed off before we set a start date. A sanctuary zone carries the most restrictions.
The maps show more than zones. DPIRD's 2025 mapping of estuary vegetation recorded about 317 hectares of Posidonia seagrass in Port Stephens, about 2,210 hectares of mangrove and about 1,000 hectares of saltmarsh. In September 2026 its aquaculture lease layer listed 753 recognised aquaculture sites across the Nelson Bay, Karuah and Tea Gardens sub-areas. Those sites fall in both Port Stephens Council and MidCoast Council areas: the port spans two councils. Each of those changes something on the day. Seagrass under the jetty means the barge and its anchors stay off it, and it can change where a new pile goes. Mangrove or saltmarsh on the walkway changes how we get timber in. A lease off your frontage sets where the barge works from, and nothing goes over the side. Which of the two councils your property is in decides where any application goes, and that sets the wait before anything bigger than a straight repair.
Before we price a repair, tell us what the jetty is doing, which suburb it is in, and anything you know about the zone, seagrass, mangrove or a lease nearby.
Send an enquiry from any waterfront property around the port, including Shoal Bay, Nelson Bay, Corlette, Salamander Bay, Soldiers Point, Lemon Tree Passage, Mallabula, Oyster Cove, Karuah, Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest. Name your suburb in the form. The port spans Port Stephens Council and MidCoast Council areas, so your address also decides which council any development application goes to.
Tell us what you need and where the property is.