Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam New Pond Ideas?

I am new and and am throwing some ideas around for a 4 to 5 acre pond/lake. The dam will be built on a slight 5-10 degree slope. The maximum water depth should be about 25 feet. I live in the ozarks so the soil is very rocky. I plan to use the lake for recreation and fishing. I plan to have a road on the top of the dam.
For one, i am kind of pressed on space for the dam. One of my ideas was to use the large interlocking concrete blocks to create a retaining wall on the back side of the dam to shave off 20-30 feet and save extra dirt.
I am not shure if I will use a spillway or a drainige pipe but i am thinking about a spillway which will drain into creek about 80 yards away.
I will clear an acre or two of thin timber which is growing where the water will be.
I am just looking for sugestions, do's, dont's, and ideas if anyone has any i will apreciate any input. Thanks

Welcome to the PB forum. Look at the top of this page and order a copy of Perfect Pond. Then see these links from the archives. Most of all enjoy the pond journey.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92487#Post92487

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92460#Post92460

Thinker,

Your dam construction all depends on the water "head" (differential between water height behind the dam and elevation of land in front of it) held back by the dam.

If the dam has deep water behind it, and is low in front of it, you will need a wide, massive dam.

If the water is real shallow behind the dam, and is not real low on the other side of it, you can get away with a narrow dam.

Each successive foot of water puts greatly increasing pressure on the dam. For example, 2 feet of water can easily be held with a 4 foot wide dam. 4 feet of water is much harder to contain, and you need probably 10 feet at the base. A 10 foot head of water requires a truly massive dam that must be well designed and constructed. If your entire 25 foot pond depth equals a 25 foot head at the dam, you will need top notch dam construction to hold it back safely.

Welcome, good luck, and please keep us updated!