Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam So frustrated....

Let me start with I wish I had pictures but at this time I dont. I had posted a long while ago about our 20 acre pond that had a hole in the dam do to trees uprooting. Well we hired a company to come out and fix the hole. They finally showed up 6 months later (Should of been a clue but the weather wasnt that great either)

The hole in the dam was right behind the spill well. The spill well was still intact with no damage. The hole was almost halfway on the dam.

The dam and spill well are about 50 years old. 40 feet of piping starting from the spill well through the dam was replaced with the old. Not all the piping was replaced. Im not sure how wide the piping is but it is at least 20 inches round and I think he called it corrugated (sorry I dont know anything about construction)

My dad is dying from cancer and doesnt have much time left. One of his last wishes is to see the pond full. We were ecstatic about the repairs being done. Because of my fathers illness we were unable to see much of the construction going on. The company spent 2 days on the repairs.

The repairs were done on a Friday (We paid the company that day) We received 3 inches of rain over the next three days. There are 3 outlets that feed the pond and it does fill quick. After the rain my husband and I went to the pond. Our hearts dropped. Behind the spill well the water was gushing out.

I could see and hear the water gushing behind the spill well. The dam behind the spill well where it was fixed appears fine. I walked out to the spill well and could see water coming into the spillwell and going out through the dam.

I hope I am making myself clear. The depth of the water at the spill well was at the base of the clay built up around the spill well. There still was about 5 feet before the water would of even began to flow into the well from the top. The old clay that surrounded the spill well was the original clay on all three sides. When the company fixed the hole behind the spill well they never added anything around the well on the backside where all the water is coming in.

I obviously dont know anything about ponds but my conclusion is that when they filled the hole, the new pipe they replaced that attached to the well, at some point became detached. The water started flowing in between the gap of the pipe and well. Thus because of the amount of water going in it comes into the spill well and back out into the piping through the other side of the dam. Does this sound logical?

The company was notified and advised they would come out the next day. I still havent seen anyone. I have got to get this fixed and full for my father. I am frustrated. I think I just made one of the biggest mistakes of my life.

Wow, Lisa, sorry to hear this. I'm not sure I am completely clear on what you are seeing there, but it almost sounds like the water is just making its way through the dam along the outlet pipe, which sounds like the company may not have installed anti-seep collars on the piper. Those are just big square-ish sheets of metal that fit tightly to your piping so help prevent water from finding a way along the pipe and creating a pathway out. I don't really know much about piping through dams as I don't have that setup on either of my ponds, but there are plenty of folks around here who will have thoughts for you. If you could get pictures, that always seems to help at least give a better of what may be happening and help shape suggestions. Weekends are normally sort of slow here, so there may not be a lot of help coming right away, but it will come. In the meantime, try to make time to get pics of the key areas so folks can see a little more clearly what's going on. Good luck on this problem - hope your dad gets his wish. I suspect the right contractor will help you get the best possible chance to help him fulfill his wish.

Lisa
Sorry about your father that has got to be tuff—will say a prayer for him. Not sure if we can help with the leaking dam but we will all try.
Like Todd said a couple of pictures could help out a lot.
Was the original problem with a tree root or was the pipe damaged?
As I understand the situation water is coming out of the pipe behind the dam but it is not going in the pipe at the proper place.
Is there any water coming out beside the pipe at the back? Or is all of the water coming out of the pipe?
Let us have a little more information if you

Lisa,

First of all my deepest sympathy regarding your dad.

As far as the leak, yes, post some pictures so we can pinpoint the problem and set you on a course to getting if fixed right. Many of us have been there and it sure is frustrating and depressing! Sadly there are some contractors out there that aren't as knowledgeable about pond building as they should be.

Okay talked to the contractor yesterday he is coming out tomorrow. The original break in the dam was caused by a very large tree uprooting and basically leaving a large hole in the side of the dam. The hole just so happened to occur behind the spillwell. The original pipe which was steel was damaged and therefore the pond drained.

The spill well is made of concrete and basically is a large square chimney that rises from the bottom of the pond.(actually it goes about another 3 feet past the bottom) It is not far from the dam. Apparently when the spill well was made the piping was put in first. The spill well was then built. The spill well was basically built over about 4 feet of the pipe that comes into the well. Thus, if you took the end of the pipe out you would have a hole in that section of the well the diameter of the pipe.

Because some of the original pipe was damaged, and it also being steel and showing signs of rust, 40 feet of corrugated (plastic) was used to replace the old, starting from the spill well going into the dam. The same size diameter as the original.

Anti seep collars were used. According to the contractor when he wanted to attach the new pipe to the well is where the problem happened. Because the well was concreted over the old pipe, when it came time to take the old pipe out chunks of concrete were coming out with it. The contractor stated he was afraid he was going to open a can of worms and decided to leave 4 feet portion of pipe alone and just attach the new pipe to it. Obviously that didnt work, some point during the construction the pipe seperated from the original piece at the well.

When the pond started to fill, the water eroded away the clay between the seperation. This is where the water loss is happening.
The water is going out through the pipe into the swamp on the other side of the dam. I do not notice any water coming between the pipe at this end.

Contractor wants to come back tomorrow and take the old 4 foot of old remaining pipe out and chip the concrete away from the pipe entrance to well and put the new pipe into the hole and concrete around it. Then he wants to put a bunch of rock down. Anybody else have any other ideas on how to seal the pipe to the well.

Will post pics. I have pics but no scanner. Will take some on digital tomorrow and upload them.

Hey Lisa is the contractor going to fix his mistake for free? Hope so! I'm no pond builder but I think I understand his reluctance to damage the "chimney", but instead of the "duct tape and bailing wire" option he should have considered a more workable permanent solution. Pics will help. Good Luck...you can do it (not the pics,but the whole ordeal!)

Trying to post pics, Having trouble, but once I figure it out they will be up.....Lol

Here is the spill well. If you looked down into it you be looking down about 9 feet. You can see where the water eroded. This is where the pipe comes into the well. You can see by the erosion how the water was coming in between the pipe seperating from the well. Contractor is coming today to dig it up so will get pics of the seperation and how the pipe should tie into the well. Hope the pics upload

Lisa Good job on the pics! Nasty looking mess. Looking forward to comments after contractor visit and more pics.

Lisa
The pictures made a lot of difference.
This is just talking without knowing all the information.
From what the pictures showed it does not look like a patch will fix that pipe. If this was mine I would consider a complete overhaul.
1 Remove the existing pipe and replace it with a new plastic or concrete pipe.
2 Or fill the old pipe in with concrete so that it will be plugged. Install a new pipe away from the old pipe in an easier place to work.
3. Plug the old pipe and consider using the earthen spillway, it would need to be cut down to the same elevation as the inlet of the pipe.
It will be interesting to see what the contractor you have has to say.
Keep us posted.

Lisa, take notes on what Otto had to say. He knows his dirt, and more importantly, he knows how to fix ponds.

Yes Otto is the man! Very humble nice guy too as I've met him in person. He has a lifetime of experience building ponds.

Personally when I had problems with one of my ponds I got rid of the spillway piping etc. I now just have an earthen dike with a a stone lined emergency overlow and all is fine. But that's me -- I'm a keep it simple stupid guy.

I had a minor problem with five star moles digging off to the sides of the emergency spillway but nothing I couldn't fix.

The earthen dam sounds like a great idea. I will remember that in the future. Hopefully the contractors have it sealed. If I continue to have problems I think the best option is to do away with pipe and seal it up and go this route.

Anyways, the contractor came and removed the last of the old piping that was still attached to the well. He put a piece of the plastic piping in hole that goes to the well and then concreted around it to seal the gaps. He then attached another piece of plastic pipe to that and to the new plastic pipe that goes through the dam. I had to leave so havent been able to see the rest. Contractor was then going in to lay some sort of lining (water cant penetrate) down. He came in with a huge load of very large granite rock that he said he was going to put over the site.

Will post more pics, hopefully will soon be able to post pics with it full once again.

Just wanted to update. The repairs to the spillwell and dam were finished a few weeks after last post. My father past away 3 days after completion and never got to see it fill. We didnt have much rain throughout the summer and the water level just made it to the bottom of the spillwell. Then we had the hurricane. The spillwell and emergency overflow could not keep up with the amount of water that came into the pond and the water level was quite high on the dam. Had some erosion at the repaired site of the dam but the dam held. (still need to repair) We have had alot of rain since the hurricane and between the damage at the pond, my home and horse farm, repairs have been slow.

I went to the pond yesterday to clean up downed trees, etc. The water is still pouring in at a high rate into the pond but the spill well is able to handle it and seems to be functioning properly. When I was cutting up trees I noticed alot of movement in the water and told my husband that I swear there are fish out there. So, we loaded up the boat and went for our first boat ride. ( needed to clean debris around screen on spill well anyway) To our amazement there are fish everywhere. Catfish, Brim, shell cracker, bass. They are small and where they came from I dont know. The downside is because of the rain and no sun it has made a great opportunity for all the 02 suckers to flourish and the water coming is depleted of 02 and we are having a fish kill. It is happening everywhere in my area not just my pond and I pray some will survive. Rain all this weekend so things are looking grim. As soon as the rain stops I will take pics of the full pond and of the new damage that needs to be fixed. It seems to be never ending and I wonder if it is all worth it. I also noticed yesterday alot of the fowl are coming back. Not sure if the fish are enticing them in or if they are actually here to stay. Photos soon, I promise

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Keep the faith. Sometimes life just throws a lot at you all at once. We had our firat fish kill this past winter after the ice stayed in so long covered with snow. All the ponds in our area lost fish. I was sure that nothing survived because of all the dead fish, even CC, and no sign of any alive. Then it warmed up and we saw a small number of both LMB and BG which spawned this past spring. We now have a pond teaming with small fish. Nature has a way of recovering and so do we.