Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Best practices for building a pond

My pond leaks. I've contacted the digger and he's supposed to come over.

My question is this: Can anyone list what is SUPPOSED to be done when building an above the watertable damed pond?

I've seen lining the bottom with clay, using a sheepsfoot to pack everything, pumping water out of the core as you fill it, packing the core with a dumptruck filled with dirt, etc.

My digger didn't do any of those things and I just want ammunition to get him to fix it when we talk or if I have to take him to court. I spent a lot of money and don't want a mud hole...

The sheepsfoot is the ultimate tool in compacting clay, but for building a pond dam, it's kind of overkill. It's never bad to have it too strong, but it's rarely used and not really needed. A sheepsfoot roller and compactor is needed for compacting soil to building code levels before bulding a structure on it, but not really needed for what you have.

First thing you need to be sure of is if your soil contains enough clay to hold water. Then you need to be sure it's both tall and wide enough to hold back the water in your pond. Lots of ponds have been dug without a core trench, but it's not advised as it's a simple, easy way to make the dam stronger with less dirt.

Digging out the dam to create a core trench after it's been dug is probably a futile waste of time and money. Have the soil tested, then if it's good clay, review the size of your dam. I've seen four foot wide dams at the top with good clay holding back six feet of water with only a foot of freeboard on the top.

Eddie

Where does it leak?

it's leaking from somewhere, who knows really...

This is the deal... I wanted a pond, the guy said sure, he "shot" an area and we agreed on a price. He came in, dug a test hole and hit water about 6 feet down. Then he started digging the rest.

The "pond" is in a slight draw where a seasonal stream was located and filled in with logs when the land was cleared, there is about 100 acres of runoff going into this draw. The land was logged and the scrap logs were buried in this draw. The soil IN the draw is a dark soil/muck, the sides of the draw is clay, S Alabama red clay.

What happened is this: He dug down until he hit water and then kept going around the marked out area going down all around until he hit water. There were a few old logs buried in this black muck. Then he dug a core pulling out quite a few old logs and a bunch of muck. It had rained the day before he did the dam and as he dug it out, the whole hole was filled with water/slop. He dumped the red clay into the core hole that was FULL of water and used a bulldozer (he said it was too wet to use a truck filled with dirt, what he wanted to do) to pack it in and built up the dam layer upon layer. The first layer was obviously VERY thick so he could drive the bulldozer on it since the hole was filled with water at first.

The old stream bed remains as is downstream on the neighbors property. If you walk downstream about 100 feet, there is a natural "swimming hole" filled with water that is flowing out like a fire hose flowing at household pressure, maybe a gallon every second or so. Last year it did NOT flow, this year it hasn't stopped. I KNOW that my pond water is feeding this swimming hole and the water flowing out of it. The pond went from full to down at least 5-6 feet in 2 months. Almost to the same point it was at before it started filling, almost to the same point it was at when he finished digging. I had maybe a foot of water left in the pond. All this time the water flowed out of the hole downstream.

It seems to me that this is what is happening... The dam wasn't cored deep enough and water is going under it. Or, it was so wet that it wasn't packed good enough and is allowing water to flow through the bottom.

Do I have any recourse if he doesn't want to dig it out deeper and pack it again?

Sounds to me that if he hit water and didn't pack anything else on top of it, your water is likely seeping back through the water table to wherever it feels like, probably towards that old swimming hole.

I'm no expert, but it looks like he did exactly what several on this board have cautioned against. As far as recourse, unless you had some kind of contract, I think you may be stuck.

We are in a siut against a contractor that biult a 3 acre pit. I wish I'd found this site BEFORE our first attempt. Get the lacal USDA/NRCS pond expert out there and let him supervise the repair(if he's willing) If the dozer guy dug down to the water table or underground stream then stopped and since your dam is built you will have to either dig a trench in front of the dam till you find good clay from end to end and line the eintire pool are with 6-18' laryers of compacted clay. Been there-done that-Now have a 4acre pond SEALED! other option is to line the pond--WAY too expensive. Third and last is probably to take down the dam. Call the NRCS.

I agree with Shawn. I think he should have pulled out and told you that you needed to find another spot. The bottom, sides and dam of a pond are supposed to contain the water. When he hit water or even sand, he should have stopped right there.

This guy sounds like he doesnt know too much about dirt. You can never get compaction when dumping dirt into water, or a hole filled with water. The water will saturate the dirt and it will basically turn to jello, goo or sludge. There's a dozen differnt terms, but it all boils down to soil that loses all integrity.

If you have a hole with water in it, like your core trench, you need to get the water out before putting dirt in. This applises to stumps, building footings or just post holes for a fence.

He dumped enough dirt into the core to cover the water and drive over it, but there is no way he could get that soil to compact. It wouldn't matter if he had a sheeps foot or not, it's impossible to compact sludge.

The water coming out down streem from your dam could be from allot of differnet reasons. In fact, there are too many options to even guess. The dam was never sealed, so it's probably just leaking out the bottom.

The only other thing to consider is if this water is a seperate spring. With all the rains I've received this year, I have springs all over the place. Some are feeding water into my pond, others are turning areas of my land into a swamp.

Eddie