Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam Pond growth pictorial scrapbook

Seeing as my PB support crew has been there with me every step of the way, this would be no time to cut ya loose. I'm gonna use this thread to share the growth of our Liberty Nature Preserve pond project as each rainfall brings a little more depth. I will also incorporate it into my anthology thread, Chasing A Dream.
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I'll begin by posting an aerial view of LNP for reference. It includes GPS mapped overlays of improvements (the dotted line is the entry driveway; the lite green lines are proposed roads that have now been completed; the little brown box within the knoll is the sand beach). This mapping work was performed by our county NRCS agent. He has been very helpful and will continue as we pursue government funded programs for vegetation development Spring '07. Anyway, the pondsite permimeter was mapped Fall of 2005 based on walking the treeline that delineates the edge of the proposed normal pool level. This treeline was where we stopped during clearing the entire pondsite of fairly thick timber. Subsequent excavation to create the building site pad and it's blunt, man-made peninsula, the south perimeter road, and the northwest road across a draw has taken away some of the acreage (the lite green line in the NW corner is the road that ultimately swept from the dam, across that little cove, and terminated at the knoll. We filled in the isolated cove and drained it under the new road). Some acreage will be gained because he did not map up into the dense thicket at a substantial section that will flood up into the timber adjacent to a shallower wetlands we planned. Bottom line: I'm guessing the final product will likely come in at about 4.5 - 5 acres.

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7/25/06, taken from the south end of the dam, looking across to the knoll and the sand beach (the drain filter jacket in the basin at the base of the dam is 6 - 7 feet tall)

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10/29/06 taken from the same south end of the dam (about 6" of the drain filter remains exposed above water)

Brettski,

Thanks for the update! How far are you from brim full?

Good idea Bski . I can use this in the slide show. What about an in-between time pic say 9-1 +- . Also a pic time line from a different angle say from the dock/landing.

This post will be a series taken from the front edge of the man-made peninsula of the building site. The building site is a 3/4 ac. area carved out of the surrounding timber at the south-east end of the pond with a wide, blunt peninsula that bumps out into the original pondsite footprint.
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Nov 2005; clearing was completed 2 months ago. The entire area we view was fairly thick timber 4 months ago (alot of closely spaced "pole" timber). We are planning the dimensions and excavation needs for the homesite. Before leaving this day, I walk back into the timber that will need to be cleared to create the area to waste the 4500-5000 cu yards of soil to build up this proposed building site. I take this pano-pic from the approx area where a home may someday reside. We are looking out at the natural terrain with no excavation. This is the terrain that took me 4 years of searching to find. I could not have done it without Terra-server.

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(fast-forward to next Summer)
7/15/06, after we discovered that our excavator elected to dig these monster holes right out in front of the building site. He had to cut through the 6 or 7 ft of topsoil and silt to get to the thick blue clay deposit beneath. This clay was used to line the front edge of the building site pad that we now stand on. This pad was built up and constructed by moving nearly 5000 cu yards of soil from within the basin. Donna-ski looks up, likely wondering how much these things cost. The PB crew has already weighed in, assuring me that these deep anomolies will yield substantial benefit as bottomscaping.

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7/25/06, excavation is complete and the drain valve was recently closed

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9/22/06, after placing some of the fish structure. A slightly differnet camera angle since we have moved over about 75 feet to the north side of the building site peninsula, still near the front edge. The monster holes, left of frame, have filled.

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10/21/06, not alot of water elevation change but a better pic

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Russ,
The water will be deepest at the area in front of the dam, per usual. It will be 14 feet deep at normal pool. This area of 13 - 14' deep spans an area about 1 acre out in front of the dam. The balance varies greatly. For reference, the top of the black filter pipe for the drain is about 8 ft below normal pool.

Brettski,

Great pictorial.

What happened to the structures in the 9/22 to 10/21/06 pictures?

Gator

Great thread as us usual Brettski. You set a high mark for the rest of us. Keep those photos coming. I can't wait for the normal pool level pictures.

Don't tell me the pirates came by and they are now interested in artificial structure. Ugggh !!

Thanks for the additional pics. I would think that by year end you will have a pic of a full pond to share.

Nice looking pond. Thats going to be fun when its filled up. Enjoy buddy!

Looks a lot like mine. I like the structure you put in.

Yours might be better looking and bigger but mines growing faster than yours

(I'm not goin' there)

11/21/06 update...
Hmmmm, not alot of change except the trees are naked. We picked up about 4" or 5" more depth since the last pic. This is the water depth that we had to deal with while considering the installation location of the fingerling cribs. It had a lot to do with my final decision to install them closer to shore.
Sunil's mound is about 15" from disappearing; Norm's ditch is pretty full.
This pano is a 3 pic stitch, so the foreground is distorted. It is taken from the same front/center spot of the building site that I have been using for reference. The grass perimeter at our feet actually curves the opposite direction, arcing to surround us.

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...this is a 2 pic pano stitch from the same area; a little larger for detail.

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(edited in 12/10) I just came across this descriptive pano-shot looking up to the building site pad from the south perimeter road (taken same date as above).

Man, that's a nice pond. How many fatheads have you put in?

Sunil

Beautiful pond Brettski. It is amazingly similar to mine. How many acres of watershed do you have and how long do you think it will take to fill up?

Thanks, Poseidon. You are right, they do seem similar, except I believe you are working with a larger surface area. My NRCS agent I just walked the entire property with the GPS yesterday. The flagged waterline was included in the mapping along with new drives and a couple of nature trails. I expect we will come in around 4.5 - 5 acres surface. The depth will calculate around 35 - 40 ft/acres.
Our watershed estimates at 55 ac. On the bad side, this is less than ideal for fill up and maint (but definitely not a deal-breaker). On the good side, a frog strangler shouldn't keep me awake at night worrying.
Under normal, average precip and evap. I am guessing 2 years to fill, but hope this is conservative. What we have now is the quick stuff that appears to be filling fast as an illusion. The rest of it is the bulk; that is where reality sets in. Hey, it gives me time to do more structure stuff and bird habitat.
How goes your project?

Jeez, Brettski, the scope of your project is amazing. Are you building the pond first and then your home?

Have you ever done a project like this before?

It looks like it is going to be an absolutly beautiful place when you are done.

In a previous lifetime, Brettski hung around with a large blue ox and is credited for digging the Great Lakes.

Brettski,

Thanks for the pictures and updates. I'm suprised that you expect it to take two years to fill. What's your anual, average rainfall?

It's been fun watching your progress.

Eddie

...the Gallus Historical Society explains:
...Erie thought, eh? :rolleyes:
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...Jeffhasacouplequestions:
Actually, you are witnessing first hand the fruits of a second mortgage. This project is targeted as a weekend and vacation retreat with the potential of a retirement crib. At my current debt, the original forecast of 5 years (min) to develop a home remains firmly intact.
Yes, when I was 7 years old. I was forced to give it up when my folks made me put away my Lincoln Logs and empty the bathtub.

Is there a spring running? Or is the current fill-up from rain runoff 'only'?

Eddie,
The avg precip for my region is about 38".
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Lance,
Good to hear from ya...seems like it's been awhile, or you've been hangin' in the threads further down that I don't frequent so much.
All our water is derived from runoff; no springs.

-- 12/17/06 UPDATE --
Wonderful midwest temps of low/mid 50's about one week before Christmas...but drizzly, cloudy, and dreary. The ground is absolutely soaked; my ankle cut boots weigh a ton with clay, nearly falling off with each step. We got about 3" of rain over 2 days about 10 days ago. It lifted the pool about...oh, gotta guess maybe 8 - 10". Alot of on & off showers and drizzle since. The drain pipe filter case is submerged; this is a milestone. We are about 10" short of totally submerging the entire basin, covering all the whoop-de-doos.

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Theo's Cluster, located near the heal of the slope off the building site pad (foreground structure), is flirting with juice. Sunil's Mound, below the center structure array, is now submerged. Norm's ditch is a mere shadow radiating up and left from Sunil's Mound. The beach and pier framing provide good perspective for how much further we have to go...about 7 or 8 more feet of depth.
(low level telephoto shot)

I think you're gonna be purt near full come Spring, Brettski. Of course, that could just be the juice talking.

C'mon Theo...I'm tryin' to remain calm, convincing myself that it's gonna take a couple o' years. I dunno; it had just started raining when we left after taking the above set of photos. This next pic is 3 days later after 2"+ of rain on already soaked soil. I think we picked up another 6 - 7" and it's still comin' in thru one draw. Oh yeah, and the clay field tile is making serious contributions (please see my red flare on the Best cap for tile overflow thread .

This pano shot is taken from a very similar area as the other above pano's at the building site pad. I have walked down the front slope to the current shoreline. Oooo boy, another milestone; the entire basin is covered with water. All the whoops are submerged. For reference, the dark spot underwater (right/center of frame) is the last exposed dirt mound; the hump between the 2 monster holes off the front/middle of the building site pad.
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Another perspective, taken from the timberline at the wetland zone. From left to right: one of eight 4 x 4 poles for nesting structures (normal pool will be 2 ft below the pole top; there is a second pole extension coming to raise the nest boxes), bld'g pad with Theo's Cluster (getting his feet wet) on the slope, launch/dock/deck, Sunil's mound going under, cribs on shore with polyvinylphibian saucers beaming cryptic messages to Sunil's friends in the Mothership, screen tent tucked up on a nice hill (soon-to-be home of the B-ski tree house and deck...shhh, don't tell D-ski yet), tire/PVC tree reef, run-off channel from a draw entering behind us, the dam at distant/far right.