Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc. Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Assets Held for Sale - Narrative (Details)	3 Months Ended
Assets Held for Sale - Narrative (Details)	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($) machine crane	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($)
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items]
Recoveries from insurance claims	$ 0	$ 2,165,000
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment	424,000	309,000
Asset impairments and (gain) loss on assets held for sale, net	(70,000)	$ 750,000
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items]
Assets held for sale	18,636,000
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations \| Fabrication Division
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items]
Assets held for sale	$ 17,712,000
number of cranes \| crane	3
Number of bending roll machines \| machine	2
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations \| Shipyard Division
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items]
Assets held for sale	$ 924,000
Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations \| Other
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items]
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment	$ 400,000