We used to have place on a private lake and we built a floating pier.Used 55 gal plastic barrels forgot how many it took but built a frame put the barrels in and stapped em in and put the deck on.My place was on a hill and had a lot of pines, when we got ready to launch we raked up a bunch of pine needles spread em out and started pushing,was like launching a ship,after we got it in the water we pulled it to the spot we wanted and drove a couple of galvanized pipes and anchored it down the built the walkway.Think i had about $500 in it. Sold the place about 13 years ago and it was still there.

