Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam here goes .. dam going in

Hello all .. new to the forum and happy to be here .. lots of good info .. wish I would have known it was here long before this .. Developing a 20 acre site for a new construction house and a barn .. part of the development is a 1 acre pond and the dam is being put in this week .. any good suggestions would be greatly appreciated



Hope these images post as this is the first time I've done this .. lots more pics if it does

Welcome to the forum Mike!! I love the rock work!!!

Dirt guru Otto is the best for advice on this, but some standards are to key the dam core and to make the back slope as gentle as possible for mowing safely. Don't make the front slope too steep in case someone needs to get out in a hurry either.

What are you goals for fish? Will you need to add Ag Lime to the soil before it fills?

+1

You'll have some awfully contented smallies in the future, if that's where your interests lie....great job, beautiful looking place.

I agree with Yolk. Welcome to PB.

Welcome Mike!

There's a few of us who manage our ponds for SMB...I can speak for one of them by saying I admire and COVET the amount of rock you have placed. Great work!

Thanks for the comments .. to answer the questions .. no I had not planned on any lime being added given the whole 20 acres has a limerock base .. this project just kind of developed because of the availability of huge flat rock .. I buried it in places in the beginning .. trucked it away for some of the local farmers for rip rap later . then thought may as well use it myself .. project just grew and grew from there .. was not an avid fisherman so did not have any real goals for fish but have become very interested since I started reading this forum ..again suggestions for a rookie are always appreciated .. some more pics
[IMG]http://i978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/mgaylord_bucket/13.jpg[/IMG


House will go behind the excavator in the second pic
The ravine carried the water away for all these years and the dam will go at the head of it in the first pic ..

Hello Mike and welcome to Pond Boss. Photos on your first post. I like it!

Looking very good. Love the fabric under the rocks - should keep them sittin' tall and weed free for a long time. They're putting my fabric down today... I sure wish I had a limey soils like you do!

I like the rock work also and the fact you wont have to mow the dam

Did your dirt guy cut a keyway where the pipe is? It looks like topsoil instead of clay is being used and that it is not being compacted. Hopefully I'm wrong. With such a beautiful pond being created, a leak would be horrible!

Yes we did Rainman .. key was cut in down to ledgerock with a solid 3 foot ridge behind it .. all was filled with clay as well as the trench for the pipe



we compacted the clay with the excavator to approximately 8 feet .. what your seeing in the above photos is fill going on top of the clay core .. good compactable fill about 50% clay base .. we planned on building about 80% then letting things settle for 4 or 5 days

a few more pics of the dam at about 80%

Plan on finish clay, fabric, remainder of fill and stone tomorrow .. water levels going up about 3 inches per and it is fairly dry so I'm pretty happy .. some pics of the water levels and fish structures some of which are allready covered with water

Mike Welcome aboard. You will love this place.

Did the rock come out of the lake? Is the bottom limestone rock?

There was a lot of work that went into placing the rocks. It looks great.

Awesome, absolutely awesome!

Thanks guys .. it certainly has been a labor of love .. only about half of the stone came from the hole .. I have had to farm the other half from different locations. Yes the bottom is all limestone .. I did not know about the different levels until mid way through the project .. deep end by the dam will be about 13 feet, shallow end by the source pipes about 3 feet

And yes, cruising around this site has given me encouragement .. people see you digging a big hole and all the work that goes into it and they think your crazy until they see the finish product .. So thanks for the site and all the info, I'm certain I will visit frequently

Plan is to fill this winter and spring .. let it mature a little then drain in fall of 2010 at which time I will put in the water control structure, put in the dock and aeration system, make any last minute changes then refill.. Plan to stock with fish the following spring .. Any advice regarding the plan ?

couple of pics from the next day ..

Really impressive Mike. I'm glad you found us.

Ken

That extensive use of rock is a first, IIRC. Very cool. Nice work.
I must say, tho, that I maintain reservations on the method of compacting the dam mass with the trackhoe bucket or the tracks. Perhaps I read that incorrectly...?

I was actually on the dozer pushing and the vibratory roller compacting .. I didnt get pics of the roller working because I was on them but here they are ..

100 ACES!
well done, sir

I trucked the clay in prior to the dam going in .. once the core was in and compacted .. trackhoe loaded me with the borrow material .. I backed up to the dam dumped and while he was loading me I jumped on the dozer or roller and did their respective jobs .. would have been nice to have another person but I got my exercise

Well here is a problem I did not anticipate .. I focused so much on compaction of the core and the anti-seep collars and the bed for the pipe .. I did not account for bouyancy .. I left approximately four to five feet of double walled 24" culvert pipe extending into the pond with the thought that late next summer I would drain the pond and put in the water control structure .. I capped and sealed the pipe with two 3/4" peices of plywood with a 6" cable valve to drain when I was ready .. all good .. but .. the water is rising fast and end of the pipe is too bouyant .. it started to buckle and the end of the pipe rose with the water level as the water started to crest the pipe .. my cable valve worked great .. I pulled it and the water is ever so slowly going down ..

I couldnt get any pics because of darkness ..

Any suggestions from the experts .. HHHEEELLLLPPPPP

I'm no expert by any means, Mike, but have a couple of thoughts from the peanut gallery. First off, I echo the sentiments that have been expressed already - great looking project!

One question I have is whether or not all of that extra distance of pipe is really necessary. If you don't need it and can cut some of it down, the buoyancy issue will obviously be reduced. I'm sure you've thought of that.

Another thought is to drain the water low enough and then use some manner of anchor on the excess pipe. Perhaps weld some rebar to form an upsidedown "U" that goes over the piping and into the ground. You'd obviously need to anchor it in concrete or something equivalent so it would hold against the positive buoyancy.

Like I said, those may not be useful suggestions at all, but since I appear to be the first one to take a stab, I figured what the heck! Besides, if I don't throw my ideas out to be refuted, how will I ever learn how to deal with that situation if I ever find myself in it! Good luck with a viable solution.