Hi! I just joined the forum and looking for some wise counsel! I am building a 12 acre largemouth bass lake in Ohio that will have a long, curved dam due to the slope of the land from north to south (max height on the backside of the dam will be 36' in some areas). The two engineering firms we hired (one geotechnical and one design) are offering me an option between using a ductile pipe or a concrete pipe for the spillway. The pipe will be 100 linear feet and 18". Which would you recommend? I believe the ductile will be cheaper...but I am more interested in what is the best product for the job. It is very important to me that we have a solid dam and use the best material possible to prevent leakage. Thanks for your help!

Why not PVC?

We used 24" and 30" double walled PVC pipe for culverts on a farm addition last year, and have had 8" double walled PVC drain pipes running 60' and 180' from our two ponds for 15 years. Installed correctly (pieces slid together all the way), it doesn't leak or come apart after being buried. That's the material I'd be using in your situation.

P.S. Hi, DD!

Howdy Theo/Steve

I useed standard "green" plastic sewer pipe which will outlive me and many generations to come. Concrete lasts a long time though.

Is it double wall PVC or HDPE (polyethylene)? I can find corrugated polyethylene with ribbed interior or smooth interior (double wall) but would be interested in researching double walled PVC if you can provide a link.

See this for the HDPE (example only)
HDPE, double wall

Regardless of material, I would select a pipe with as smooth an interior wall and with as few joints as possible. IMO that will provide the drain that will be least likely to plug with debris. My concern with concrete would be the tendency to crack.

I am in a duck club that uses the dual wall HDPE pipe in several locations under levees to hold and drain water. We just replaced a 24" one which developed a split after 17 years and eroded a "suck hole" in the top of the levee which I found when it collapsed under my Ranger. Personally I would not use it for a pond spillway in preference for schedule 40 PVC or smooth steel. 18" PVC may cost close to ductile steel anyway. Certainly in your case of a 36' high dam follow the engineering recommendations.

That HDPE looks like what we used.

Well, it looks like I will be replacing two 48" alum pipes that go under a main rd on my place. This rd gets me to the back of the property. Like redonthehead, I have two suck holes and water is now backed up in the creek. I am going to take a better look at it today and see which way I want to attack this. I am concerned that if I don't do something pretty soon, a heavy rain might wash out the rd. I am entertaining the idea of adding some valves to produce a duck hunting spot. I have no idea why the two big alum pipe collapsed.

Tracy
I'm using two of those black corrugated pipe for my spillway and have not had any issues....yet

When I built my 3 acre pond, for whatever reason, the NRCS agent did not recommend the HDPE double wall. He called for sched 40 PVC.

That could be because my pipe slants down at a decent angle and has increased flow rates when covered with water and goes into siphon mode. Maybe the suction has something to do with it, but I am just speculating. A pipe that is mostly horizontal would not have that requirement.

I want to thank everyone for their inputs! After talking with our engineer he believes the Ohio Department of Natural Resources won't approve our dam design (that still sounds funny!) unless we use concrete due to the weight of the dirt on top of the pipe. I'm fine with that as I really want to enjoy the lake when it's completed and I don't want to have to worry about the pipe cracking or collapsing.

Thanks, again, to everyone who responded! I'll be back at some point once we break ground...or if I have some further questions! God bless!

I have a pond with a 15" pvc overflow pipe that I want to extend to bring up the level in the pond does anyone know how I could go about this? The pipe has already been cut off before so the small end with the gasket is not on it. The bell end of the new piece will fit over the old about two ribs in. But will seep water when the level begins to rise. Any Ideas?

So your overflow pipe has gasketed joints but has been cut off on the pond side - can you convert to solvent weld and use a coupling? Frankly I dont know if it is sized correctly or it the correct PVC.