Bulkhead line is an officially set line along a shoreline, usually outside of the dry land, to demark a territory allowable to be treated as dry land, to separate the jurisdictions of dry land and water authorities, for construction and riparian activities, to establish limits to the allowable obstructions to navigation

Navigation

Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...

, etc.

In particular, it may limit the construction of piers in the absence of an official pier line (pierhead line).

Various jurisdictions may define it in a different way. A formal definition may read, e.g., as follows: A geographic line along a reach of navigable water that has been adopted by a municipal ordinance and approved by the Department of Natural Resources

Department of Natural Resources

Many sub-national governments have a Department of Natural Resources or similarly named organization:Australia*Queensland Department of Natural Resources and MinesCanada*Natural Resources Canada*New Brunswick**New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources...

, and which allows limited filling between this bulkhead line and the original ordinary high water mark

Ordinary high water mark

Ordinary high water mark refers to the highest level reached by a body of water that has been maintained for a sufficient period of time to leave evidence on the landscape. It may be indicated by destruction of terrestrial vegetation, the presence of marks on trees or debris deposits...

, except where such filling is prohibited by the floodway provisions.