Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam here goes .. dam going in

Thanks for the reply Todd .. Good suggestion .. I am draining right now to get the pipe back to a normal position .. I thought maybe placing some big flat rock on the end but if it wasnt perfect it may crush the end

maybe like you suggest a fitted rebar half collar with a steel 3 sided box structure around it .. could then place some large rock on the steel structure without compromising the integrity of the pipe ..

To answer your question as to do I need the extra pipe .. I extended the pipe so that when I drained next year to put in a water control structure .. I would have enough length to dig out underneath to pour a concrete pad then fit the structure over the pipe and seal ... Idea being if i had extra at that time I could cut it off .. kind of bigger is better philosopy .. ya know

pic of the tailgate of my truck

What about a piece of chain over the end of the culvert, and anchor the chain down with concrete, cinderblocks, or whatever else you have handy?

Another good idea but I'm thinking I wouldn't be able to get enought balast .. i walked out on the end of the pipe and it didnt budge .. and I'm 6'2" 250 lbs. .. And yes .. my wife has me on a diet

Considering that a sack of concrete is 80#, you're just a hair over 3 sacks worth!

now that's funny .. i don't care who ya are .. that's funny (Larry the Cable Guy)

Mike you DO have plenty of rock! Make a pile over the pipe and even in front of it. The pile in front will prevent larger fish from being lost during an open condition. I didn't see a single landscape rock that looked like it weighed less than 200# in your pictures........

The easiest fix would be to drill a few dozen 3/8" holes to let the pipe fill with water, assuming each ring is sealed.

I think I will use a combo of the suggestions .. a metal stucture to hold the integrity of the pipe with rock to hold it down .. to complicate matters the reach on my excavator is only about 14' and at that slope is alot less so without tearing off the top of the dam to reach it .. well I think you see

We built the dam in 4' lifts so the slope would not get the better of us .. I may have to tear it down in the same fashion to get where I want to go ..

Another problem I am seeing is the excavaor weighs 45,000 lbs .. we tried very hard during construction to keep the tracks off the centerline of the dam (directly over the pipe) so as not to jepordize the integrity of the structure with excessive weight.

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH !!!!!! guess I'll talk to my operator this morning and see what gives .. I will try and post some pics ..

My read on this is that the center of your dam, the weakest point, has NO integrity!


Mike Otto could say from experience, but if you have more than a couple feet of clay/dirt over the pipe, it NEEDS to be compacted with at least the tracks. I'm getting more worried for you the more you describe the building of the dam.

A four foot lift can't be compacted adequately to seal the dam or to bind the soils for strength. It needs to be in 6-12 INCH lifts.

I'm not trying to be a worrier here, but I'd hate to have you post in a couple months that your pond won't fill.....or worse yet, that it DID fill and the dam burst a week later!

Thanks for the concern Rainman and based on what you read it is probably well founded .. but I did compact with the dozer and vibratory roller at the 6 to 10 inch increments .. doze the loads off run over the areas then jump on the roller and make 5 or 6 pases ...

the excavator would come over about every four feet and pick out unnacceptalbe rock that had been pushed over the face .. he would then tamp (pound) the face with the bucket bottom to bind the soils in the face like you mention .. at higher levels he lined the face from the bottom up with approximately one foot of clay and then place the rock from the bottom up ..

My bouyancy problem comes from the lenght of pipe extended into the pond coupled with the lack or weight on top or the pipe at the toe or the dam .. I believe I created a beach ball under water effect ..

I should have secured the end prior .. hindsight is always 20/20 .. I got the metal today and like I said before will weld together a 3 sided cradle to go over the pipe when the pond is drained . the excavator will drive the metal stucture as deep as needed to bring the pipe back to grade .. I will then backfill the end with clay .. compact and stack big flat stone on the metal structure to hold the pipe down

I could undig the dam when drained and redo .. it would probably take about a day .. If I saw a stretch of dry weather I probably would .. just to be on the safe side .. I do not know what damage the pipe lift did to the pipe integrity .. I have never heard of this before and am a little concerned about the coupling .. did it detach ??

Good luck with the repairs, Mike. I'm sure we'll all be interested in finding out what you discover as you tackle this. Please be sure to keep us updated.

This may sound like a big deal but do not let it get you down.
From reading the posts you will come up with the right solution.

Thanks for explaining the way you compacted the material,, Rainman and I had the same consern.

Thanks Otto .. Upon further investigation I found just what I expected ..

I welded together 4" box tubing (six and one half feet tall) to fit snugly over the drain pipe and designed a saddle to fit uniformly over the pipe diameter ..



placed it over the pipe and drove it down with the excavator .. backfilled with clay and placed some large flat rock on top .. it won't come up again .. guaranteed .. Ill take some pics of the finished product on Friday morning .. weather permitting

A couple of pics of the house site .. over the core went borrow material from the basement dig .. the rest of the basement material goes into sloping the front yard .. House will overlook the pond .. elevation grade approximately 12' higher than pond level and approximately 50' away .. A long way to go .. but it seems to be coming together ..

That pond will look pretty when it's at full pool!

Wow, Mike! Great looking brace! What is that, about 5 - 6 feet tall? How much is pounded into the ground? I look forward to seeing the pics with this in place and the other work that you've done.

Thanks Todd .. the brace is very stout .. about six and a half feet total length ... total in the ground under the pipe .. a little over four feet .. was very hard driving with the excavator and I've got about 4000 lbs sitting on top of the brace .. so no worries about this problem re-occuring .. calling for 90% chance of rain or snow here next couple of days so work will resume later with pics ..

That rock work looks so nice, I almost hate to see it covered.........

You are going to truly enjoy a lot of morning coffee enjoying the view you are creating Mike!

Been a couple of days .. got the structure around the pipe and capped the pipe 4 days ago .. wasn't able to get pics .. pond has risen about a foot per day .. Approximately 1 acre pond rising approximately 1 foot per day .. I have not had any significant rain in the last month and the spring pipes are still running at about 15% .. regardless .. I am very happy with my water source

A couple of shots of the pond from the ledgerock shelves while it is filling (inside the pond) .. water level is approximately 4 1/2 feet

Here is a pic of the rock I set on the structure to hold the pipe down .. I'm not a bettin man .. but I'm pretty sure that pipe isn't goin anywhere

Mike, that is looking absolutely awesome! Great job on getting it back together after the initial near-disaster! What a great looking setup you've put together.

Thanks Todd .. I am pretty excited about this initial pond fill .. It is the culmination of about 4 years work .. progressed as time and money allowed .. Going to have friends and family over this weekend to christen the dam .. tailgate party, ribbon cutting, champagne and chili .. weather permitting. I will post pics.

There is still alot of finish work to be done .. but that will have to wait till next year .. dock .. aeration .. water control structure .. topdressing and edging the pond .. and finish work on the top of the dam (going to make a foot bridge arch over the discharge)

Mike a fascinating thread and some great work. Thanks for the pics as well.

Early on you said "Plan is to fill this winter and spring .. let it mature a little then drain in fall of 2010 at which time I will put in the water control structure, put in the dock and aeration system, make any last minute changes then refill.. Plan to stock with fish the following spring .. Any advice regarding the plan ? "

It is obvious that you know a lot about the equipment and its uses so I probably don't need to add this point but will anyway just in case. You can do all of the work you mentioned above with the pond full. Coffer dams work wonders if needed and siphons can be done with only a minor drawdown if any. Docks are often done from the shore out with the pond full. If you don't have to completely drain the pond you could get a year’s head start on the fish and not worry about enough rain to fill it back up. Of course those may not be concerns.

Excellent Mike. Just the beginning of what will be numerous good times pond side. Congratulations!

Thanks for the reply ewest .. and by definition and practice I am every bit a novice at this so all suggestions are welcome .. A year would be a great headstart for small mouth bass .. If I can find an economical way to use a coffer dam then that is a great idea .. I will research my options this winter

Have decided to design a cascading waterfall at the discharge .. I think it will be pretty unique .. we decided to mine for larger flat stone for this part of the project (approximately six feet in diameter) this of course is not an exact science .. mining for stone .. we absolutely hit gold at the end of the rainbow .. or maybe just really big flat stone at the end of the rainbow just before dark tonight .. I'll get some pics tomorrow