Lake & Preserve Management
Monthly lake and pond care with quarterly preserve inspections, built to control invasive plants and keep your stormwater system working.
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ACI rebuilds eroded retention pond and lake banks with regrading, rip rap, coir logs and the PondTech plank system, priced by the linear foot.

Draw the line clearly first. The canals in Punta Gorda Isles and Burnt Store Isles are saltwater with direct access to Charlotte Harbor, and the concrete seawall behind them is public, maintained by the City of Punta Gorda through the canal maintenance assessment on those two neighborhoods. That is marine construction and it is not what we do. What we do is the freshwater side, the stormwater retention lakes and ponds inside the neighborhoods, and there are a lot of them here. Burnt Store Lakes was platted around eleven freshwater lakes. Seminole Lakes and the Deep Creek sections are full of freshwater edge as well, and St. Andrews South alone carries fifteen lakes inside Punta Gorda Isles. Those banks are sand, the summer rain arrives all at once, and every wet season takes a little more of somebody's back yard.
We install the PondTech plank system, a proprietary product licensed, installed and only available through our company. Planks go in subsurface to hold the soil and help move water to the pond without it causing surface erosion, the bank behind them is rebuilt and stabilized, and the edge stops moving. It does not read as a wall, it holds a natural grade, and it does not need redoing every few years. Pricing runs $50 to $100 per linear foot depending on how far the bank has gone and how we can get equipment to it. For an HOA board that means a number you can put in a reserve study instead of another round of fill that washes out by September. We carry workers comp and general liability and we will send the certificate to your management company before we mobilize.
The soil is sand and the ground is flat. When the wet season stacks several inches of rain into a week, a retention pond fills fast, the water sits at a new level for days, and the toe of the bank goes. Then it drops back and the undercut collapses. Repeat that season after season and the mowing edge ends up well inside where the plat put it.
Trucking in more fill treats the symptom. The plank system holds the toe so the bank behind it can be rebuilt once and stay put. We look at how the pond actually behaves, what is draining into it, and where the equipment can reach, then quote by the linear foot so the board can compare it against what they have been spending on fill.
A stormwater pond is built with a gentle slope for a reason. That slope holds sod, slows runoff before it reaches the water, and keeps the edge stable. Once the bank starts to cut back the slope steepens, the sod loses its footing, and the pond fills with the material it lost.
The damage rarely stops at the waterline. Catch it early and the repair is a fraction of what it costs after the edge has moved.
There is no single right fix. It depends on how much bank is gone, how much wave action the pond takes, what the water level does through the year, and what the association has to spend. Here is what we install.
This is usually the first question a board asks and it is a fair one. A common repair around here is a sock tube filled with sand laid along the shoreline. Those tubes can split and lose their sand in five to seven years, and then the association pays for the same stretch of bank twice.
We would rather tell you up front what each option gives you. Rock does not rot. Coir is organic and is meant to hold the bank while plants take root and take over. The plank system exists because customers were tired of the repair coming back around as a line item every few years.
We price by the linear foot so the number is easy to put in front of a board. We walk the site with you or with your manager, mark what needs attention now and what can wait a season, and put it in writing. Nobody has to guess what they are voting on.
Crews arrive in uniform in clean lettered trucks, work around residents and cart traffic, and clean up at the end of the day. We carry workers compensation and general liability insurance and can send certificates before we mobilize.
Plenty of contractors bidding your pond install one thing, usually a sand filled sock tube, because it is the only thing they carry. We carry several systems and we take the time to explain each one, what it costs, and how long it should hold. Boards often find that a different approach fits the budget better than the traditional method.
We also install the PondTech plank system, which is a proprietary product licensed, installed and only available through our company. The planks go in subsurface and help move water to the pond without it causing surface erosion. It came out of watching customers react to the same erosion over and over. They wanted something that helps keep it from starting again, so we went and found it.
Every photo on this page is an ACI job. No stock images.
It depends on what goes in. A sand filled sock tube, which is a common install around here, can split and lose its sand in five to seven years. Rock and the PondTech plank system are built to hold up better than that. We will tell you what to expect from each option before you pick one.
Lake bank work generally runs $50 to $100 per linear foot depending on the treatment, the access, and how much fill the bank needs. We measure the run and give you a written estimate at no charge.
That is why we started installing the PondTech plank system. Regrading and rock repair the damage that is already there. The plank system goes in along the bank to help head off the next round of it. The customers who ask for it are usually tired of reacting every few years and want something proactive.
Yes. A large portion of our work is repeat business with the same communities year after year. We are used to board meetings, budget cycles, and scheduling around residents and play.
We size the equipment to the site and stay off what we do not need to touch. Anything we disturb gets put back, and the crew cleans up before it leaves. Residents will see uniformed people and lettered trucks, so there is no question who is out there.
Sometimes, depending on the water body and the scope of the repair. We will walk the site, tell you what we think applies, and point you in the right direction before anything gets scheduled.
No, and it is worth being clear about it. The Punta Gorda Isles and Burnt Store Isles canals are saltwater, and the seawall behind them is public and maintained by the city under the canal maintenance assessment on those neighborhoods. Seawall work is a marine contractor's job. We work the freshwater retention ponds and lakes inside the communities. If you are unsure which one your board is dealing with, send a photo.
Fill is a temporary answer on a sand bank in a wet season this heavy. The plank system holds the toe of the bank so the rebuilt grade behind it stays where you put it. That is the whole reason we install it and the reason boards keep us on multi year.
Usually yes. Most of these ponds have a greenbelt or maintenance easement behind the lots, which is how the mowers get in. We check access before quoting, because it affects the per foot number and we would rather tell you up front than on the day.
We work across Sarasota, Charlotte and Manatee Counties, and travel further for storm work.
Monthly lake and pond care with quarterly preserve inspections, built to control invasive plants and keep your stormwater system working.
See Lake & Preserve →
We clear years of tree growth and sediment out of neglected ditches, swales and canals so stormwater moves the way the system was built to move it.
See Drainage & Canals →
We bring in fill, set the grade and compact it, so your house pad, driveway or parking area sits on ground that drains right and stays put.
See Fill Dirt & Grading →Free, no obligation estimates. 24/7 emergency service.