Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? Pond seawall construction ideas

Hello, I was wondering if anybody knew a cost saving way material wise to build a seawall on my pond edge? we live right on the pond with 100 yards of water frontage & after years of muskrat tunnels the edge is like a roller coaster when I mow. the seawall would only be a foot high at the most. I want to build a seawall then fill in the areas with topsoil & seed.

I would look at some of the construction of seawalls here in florida, these are built to take a pounding from waves as well as tide changes. Obviously you wouldn't need anything as strong, but it would be a good place to start and then scale the design back to accomodate your needs.

I have looked into seawalls in florida, overkill for my pond! we get no waves, just erosion & vermin undermining. I was hoping people could share what they have used before that didn't brake the bank.

Whatever you use, you have to sink it down at least 18" or so below the current pond bottom or the muskrats will tunnel under it. 24" would be better.

We used the interlocking steel pieces that look sort of like this:-\_/-. The top two horizontal pieces are actually at the top of the \_/, and curl over and interlock with the next piece. They are slid together and pounded/washed into the soil. The steel is 3/8" thick I believe. Overkill? Maybe, but it's been in the water for approx 35 years and still going strong. It's washed into the bottom 36" to 40", and sticking out of the bottom about 48". The ground behind it is at the top of the pieces of steel. I don't remember what they cost, but we did 75' of seawall. It's topped with a 4"x4"x 1/4" angle.

I've seen plastic seawalls, and concrete ones. A neighbor made one out of 12" diameter river rocks, concreted together. The muskrats dug under it the first year, and he had holes in his yard the next spring where the tunnels collapsed. I don't think you will find anything cheap that will last for a long time, unless you can find something at an auction.

I have seen the sheet piling in metal & plastic, like I had said before at the most the edge is a foot over the water then tapers to the water, so the metal is way overkill. I was hoping to get tips from people what they have used & what problems they encountered. I was not stressing cheap, just the best bang for the buck. I thought of doing the boulder way it would look nice just need to figure something to set them on to keep the rats from digging under. anyone have pics?

pullo, I bought used guardrail for my project. A low seawall could be constructed out of railrosd ties too. Here's link to my pier about half way down the first page of pictures.(along with some other stuff) http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=103081&fpart=1
..du

The care of the shore line is something that we work on all the time. Anything you do be sure to let us know so we can pass it on to evervone.

Otto

Thanks david u that was a very cool project, I will see if I can find used guard rails.

You might consider using concrete blocks like these. If you could sit them low enough, I think they'd work fine for your application. Just one course of them would be plenty. These are 2' high, 2' wide and 6' long.

TheMoMule, at least ONE of the remaining trees looks familiar! Got any completed photos?

Pullo, I just saw your post tonight. Something I've done is take a spade shovel and dig a small footing the width of the spade and say a little less than 6 inches deep along the bank of my pond. After digging footing I mixed concrete and sand together with a fairly wet mix so when I poured concrete in footing the concrete would find its on level.

Once concrete setup I used Arkansas field stone and made me about a 1 foot high wall and backfilled with dirt. I put the stones together with a good heavy mix of concrete. You can use the black dyed concrete to hold your stone together. The black concrete looks pretty good against the dark colored field stone.

Pullo, you could go much deeper with your footing. You might want to rent or borrow a concrete mixer though. Just be sure to make a good wet mix so the concrete will pour with a consistency that will find level.

I'm not sure I understand the resistance to sheet piling. The galvanized version lasts many years - the install requires one day with a track hoe ( you might get by with a back hoe) you simply drive them as deep as needed with the bucket then weld support angle behind them. you can then dead man brace off the angle if needed and or pour a concrete cap. each panel is about 18 inches wide and comes in 18 foot lenghts you cut to your needs. If I remember it works out to about 70 dollars a section.

It can also be done with an air hammer and smaller equipment.

http://www.vinylsheetpiling.com/gallery/33.php#300

Thanks guys, very good info. Now I have the idea of turning the seawall into a raised garden bed. we have only the pond frontage with full sun & have built some raised beds next the pond. the raised beds are out of cinder blocks with a stone veneer. I was thinking of using galvanized corrugated roof panels behind treated wood post & perlins.

I like the Vinyl Idea, Thanks!

I've seen ponds that have vertical wooden slats for sea walls. Can anyone tell me what type of wood to use for a long lasting eye appealing sea wall. I have a 5' bank around 1/2 of my 2 acre pond and have to borrow my neighbors 6'sickle mower(wich is to big for my tractor)to mow the bank, yes scary. I would like to build a sea wall and have a close to level 5' area above the wall then a retaining wall to eliminate mowing the bank. What type of system should I use? Any Ideas....

check out http://www.AMTIM.com They service PA and carry specialty wood wood products. If you want wood, they should be able to help.

I used a company here in Michigan, Seaside Seawalls who impressed me when I was doing a similar project. Even if you are not contracting the job, I would ask for a guy named Aaron, he was very knowledgeable and it would be worth (IMO) picking his brain. I personally like the raised bed idea and the stone .

Hope this helps.