A working marina contains an enormous amount of infrastructure that is either underwater, embedded in aging dockwork, or simply undocumented beyond the original installation records from decades ago. Shore power pedestals, water connections, fuel lines, pump-out stations, electrical conduits, and drainage systems all require regular maintenance — but maintaining infrastructure you can't accurately locate is expensive and slow.
GIS infrastructure mapping changes this. Every asset gets a precise location, a maintenance history, a service schedule, and a set of attributes that makes it findable, manageable, and auditable.
What Marina Infrastructure Mapping Includes
A complete marina infrastructure map spans several categories:
Dock and Pier Structure
The physical dock system — main piers, finger piers, gangways, cleats, dock boxes, and mooring hardware. This includes both fixed and floating dock sections with their age, material, and last inspection date.
Shore Power System
The electrical distribution system feeding shore power to slips: main electrical panel, feeder cables, junction boxes, and individual slip pedestals. Each pedestal should be mapped as a point feature with attributes for amperage capacity (30A/50A/100A), last inspection date, and any known faults.
Water Distribution
The freshwater supply system: main supply line, shutoff valves, individual slip connections, and any winterization valves. Understanding the pipe routing is critical when a leak occurs or when preparing for winter shutdown.
Fuel System
Fuel dock infrastructure: aboveground and underground storage tanks, dispensing equipment, emergency shutoffs, containment berms, and spill kits. Fuel infrastructure is heavily regulated and the map becomes documentation for compliance inspections.
Sewage and Pump-Out
Pump-out station locations, the waste collection pipe routes to the marina's holding facility or municipal connection, and any deck fittings or hose connections used for live-aboard pump-outs.
Lift and Haul-Out Facilities
Travel lift rails, crane positions, railway tracks, forklift lanes in dry storage areas, and the staging areas used for haul-out operations.
Why Infrastructure Maps Pay for Themselves
The return on investment in infrastructure mapping comes primarily through reduced emergency response time and avoided errors during repair work.
Emergency Scenarios
When a shore power pedestal shorts out and trips a breaker at 10pm, dock staff need to locate the panel, identify which circuit serves that section of the dock, and find the pedestal — quickly and safely. With a mapped electrical system, this is a 2-minute process. Without a map, it's a 30-minute search that may require waking the facility manager.
When a fuel line develops a suspected leak, responders need to identify the routing of the line, the nearest emergency shutoff, and the downstream tanks — all before the leak reaches the water. A mapped fuel system is the difference between a controlled incident and an environmental crisis.
Contractor Coordination
When hiring outside contractors for dock repairs, electrical work, or plumbing, a GIS infrastructure map eliminates the "where is it?" conversation before work begins. Contractors arrive knowing the layout, reducing both labor cost and risk of accidentally damaging adjacent infrastructure.
Step-by-Step: Building Your Infrastructure Map in Atlas
Step 1: Create a Layer for Each System
In Atlas, create separate layers:
Infra - Dock Sections(polygon)Infra - Shore Power(point for pedestals, line for feeder cables)Infra - Water Supply(line for pipes, point for shutoffs and connections)Infra - Fuel System(polygon for tanks, line for fuel lines, point for dispensers)Infra - Pump-Out Stations(point)Infra - Lift Infrastructure(polygon for rails and lanes, point for lift position)
Step 2: Map Dock Sections as Polygons
Trace the dock structure using satellite imagery. For floating docks, trace the current position visible in the aerial view. Add attributes to each dock section:
- Material (wood, aluminum, composite)
- Fixed or floating
- Year installed
- Last structural inspection date
- Inspection result
- Planned next inspection date
Step 3: Map Electrical Assets
Drop point features for each shore power pedestal. Group them by circuit on the feeder cable layer — draw line features from the main panel to junction boxes to individual pedestals, following the cable routing you know or can map from original installation documents.
Pedestal attributes should include:
- Pedestal ID (linked to your electrical panel's circuit label)
- Amperage capacity
- Last tested date
- Status (operational / fault / out of service)
- Connected slips (which slip numbers it serves)
Step 4: Map Water Supply
Trace the water supply pipe routing from the main connection at the dock entrance to each section valve and each individual slip connection. Store pipe diameter, material, and installation year as attributes.
Mark every shutoff valve as a point feature. During a water line break, the first question is always "which valve controls this section?" — your map answers it immediately.
Step 5: Map Fuel Infrastructure
Fuel infrastructure mapping requires care given the regulatory sensitivity:
- Tank polygons: outline each storage tank with its capacity, fuel type, and last inspection date
- Fuel line routing: trace the line from storage tank to fuel dock dispenser
- Emergency shutoffs: mark clearly as point features with a distinctive symbol
- Containment areas: draw polygon boundaries of any secondary containment berms
- Spill kit locations: point features marking where spill response equipment is staged
This layer becomes a reference document for environmental inspections and your Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) plan if applicable.
Step 6: Schedule-Based Maintenance Records
Every infrastructure feature in Atlas can carry a maintenance history. Build a habit of adding service entries as attributes when maintenance is performed:
- Date of service
- Work performed
- Parts replaced
- Technician or contractor
- Next scheduled service date
Over time, this creates a searchable, spatially-organized maintenance log that makes annual inspection prep straightforward and supports capital planning.
Sharing Infrastructure Maps
Infrastructure maps should be shared carefully given that they reveal security-sensitive information (fuel tank locations, electrical panels):
- Dock staff: full access for daily reference
- External electricians or plumbers: temporary shared link showing only the relevant system layer
- Environmental inspectors: fuel system and pump-out layer view-only
- Marina manager and board: summary view with maintenance status color coding
Keep the fuel and electrical layers on internal-only sharing. The slip layout and dock sections can be shared more broadly for operational coordination.
When to Update
Infrastructure maps require updating after:
- Any repair or replacement of equipment (update the asset record)
- Installation of new utilities or dock sections
- Annual safety inspections (update inspection dates and notes)
- Winter shutdown procedures (mark any sections taken offline)
A maintained infrastructure map is the institutional memory your marina needs to operate safely and efficiently regardless of staff turnover.
