Pile Driving & Foundations
Driven piles, rock punching, heavy marine foundations, and the field judgment required when plans meet actual conditions.
Marinas · piers · launch structuresSince 1918
Built on the Water.
Carried Through Generations.
Four generations of marine construction experience—built through hard work, family knowledge, and a life spent on the water.
Explore the legacy
A working life shaped by water
The Benton story
A family history measured in projects, people, and responsibility.
This is more than a record of what was built. It is the story of knowledge passed from one generation to the next—through dredges, tugboats, cranes, barges, pile driving, storms, hard decisions, and lessons that never came from a textbook.
“Everything lines up with a finely sharpened pencil on paper—but not always in real-world applications.”
Four generations
From 1918 to today
One continuous line of experience, adapted for every new era.
- 1918
First generation
John Albert Benton
A marine-construction legacy begins along the Mississippi and Louisiana waterways—built around dredges, towboats, hard work, and practical judgment. - 1929
Second generation
Roy L. Benton Sr.
Raised in the work and shaped by Florida’s waterfront, Roy Sr. carried the family knowledge forward as the business expanded across the state. - Third
Third generation
Roy Benton Jr.
A calm, deliberate leader whose experience earned the respect of clients, engineers, crews, and the people who worked beside him. - Today
Fourth generation
Roy L. Benton III
More than four decades on the water—now carrying the knowledge forward through construction, consulting, education, and storytelling.
The work
Marine construction as it really happens.
The equipment matters. The drawings matter. But the outcome still depends on preparation, judgment, and understanding what people do not see from shore.
Marine Infrastructure
Docks, seawalls, bridges, revetment, subaqueous utilities, and the systems that make waterfront projects work as a whole.
Planning · access · logisticsWork on the Water
Dredging, towing, barges, salvage, diving, and the equipment knowledge that can only come from time spent in the field.
Tugboats · cranes · bargesSt. Augustine Beach Fishing Pier · 1928Fort Myers Beach Fishing Pier · 1971Marker 1 Marina · 1985Safe Harbor Burnt Store Marina · 2017–2023
From the field
The stories behind the work.
Projects leave behind more than structures. They leave lessons, close calls, characters, and moments a family carries forever.
A family name
Why LaVergne Was Carried Forward
A storm, a Mississippi River crossing, and the tug captain who helped carry the Benton family story safely to Vicksburg.Part of the growing story archiveOn the Caloosahatchee
The Belle of Myers
A well-known family tugboat and a working life tied to the river, the Gulf, and the growth of Southwest Florida.Part of the growing story archiveA lesson in seconds
The Day the Barge Turned Over
When a routine seawall operation changed without warning, experience and decisive action mattered more than the plan on paper.Part of the growing story archive
Dock Talk
Real conversations from the working waterfront.
Two generations of marine construction experience talking shop.
Dock Talk brings contractors, engineers, operators, suppliers, divers, developers, and other waterfront professionals together for honest conversations about how this industry actually works.
See what guides the conversation →The foundation
Real experience.
Real projects.
Real consequences.
Not sales pitches. Not hype. Not shortcuts. Just real information, careful judgment, and knowledge carried forward responsibly.
- 01Experience before assumption
Field reality has the final word.
- 02Evidence before confidence
Good decisions show how they were reached.
- 03Judgment before approval
Tools can assist. People remain responsible.
- 04Stewardship before ownership
Knowledge is protected, improved, and passed on.
About Roy
A lifetime in marine and civil construction.
Roy L. Benton III is a fourth-generation marine contractor, State Certified General Contractor, consultant, educator, and storyteller based in Fort Myers, Florida.
From running tugboats as a young man to leading complex waterfront work, Roy’s perspective was built in the field. Today, he carries that experience into R3 Florida Construction, Benton Consulting and Management, the Marine Construction YouTube channel, Dock Talk, and the continuing record of his family’s history.