Flush Seawall Tide-Gate Hinge Plates

A tide gate on a Pinellas canal seawall only works if the hinge can swing and the plate under it stays put. PaverForge sets flush hinge plates in the cap or the landward paver field so the gate clears, the bolts stay inspectable, and the plate does not rock on shell fill.

These are not the same as an outfall flap-gate collar. A flap gate hangs on a pipe. A tide-gate hinge plate is the flat steel or aluminum shoe where the gate leaf pivots, usually at the seawall cap or just inboard of it. If pavers are butted against that shoe, the leaf binds, the bolts disappear under sand, and the first storm lifts the loose plate.

We isolate the plate in a small reinforced collar, flush with the walking surface, with a joint the gate can pass. Bedding sand is kept out of the hinge pocket. Bolts remain reachable without tearing up the field. Where the cap already has a recess, we match that recess instead of building a new hump.

Salt water and sacrificial wash attack ordinary hardware. The plate and fasteners should be the grade the seawall contractor specified. PaverForge does not replace the gate or the wall. We build the hardscape collar around hardware that is already sound, and we stop if the hinge, the leaf, or the cap is moving.

• Leave swing clearance so the leaf does not scrape pavers.

• Keep the plate flush so it is not a trip edge on the cap walk.

• Do not bury bolts under polymeric sand.

• Separate this detail from pipe flap-gate collars and gangway hinge plates.

For a flush tide-gate hinge plate on a St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, or canal-lot seawall, call PaverForge at 727-490-9798.