Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Structure set; dock finished.

Deck builder came yesterday to build the dock. I took the day off to finish placing and securing the rest of the structure as well as make sure the dock building went according to plan.


The dock is 12'x16' with a 4'x10' approach ramp. Simple design. The underside of the dock should be about 6 inches above full pool. I didn't want to mess with maintaining wood decking so I opted to use Procell composite decking. Nice stuff. Picture doesn't show it but there is a wood grain stamped into it and supposedly it doesn't scratch, stain or mark as easily as Trex. Procell is, according to the manufacturer, an "engineered with solid-core, cellular vinyl that has no wood fillers to compromise deck performance".



Another photo of the dock as well as some structure. The pool of water is near the drainpipe and has been there for about 2 months. It's about 25 feet across and 2 feet deep in spots. There are already 2 snapping turtles and some minnows in it. I have no idea how the minnows got there or what kind they are. I hope it's not a problem. More LMB forage, I guess.


The drainpipe gets capped tomorrow!!!!

Perfect!..it looks like you put on a clinic on pond construction. Well done, sir. Crimony, those whopper rocks in the last pic are to die for. I'd want some of those in my landlubber landscaping.

What is the dock material? I'm looking to do a dock on our upstate NY pond. We have to worry about the effects of as much as 2 feet of ice come February time frame each year.

That's a lot of ice! The wood is all pressure treated. The decking and trim is Procell (solid core vinyl). The posts are 6x6 set in sakrete. Joists and headers are 2x10 set 16" on center. With that much ice I would think you would have to construct your dock differently. Ice is powerful stuff and the springtime thaw would probably have chunks of ice beating up on your posts.

Even this far south we've had as much as 27 inches of ice. I'd bet that would be tough on a dock.

Thickness of the ice is not so much the issue as the width and breadth of the mass. I took considerable steps to mitigate the possibility of ice shift damage on our 5 ac hole and still wonder if it will take a full force frozen pounding.

I'm curious - what did you do?

Awww Man!!!!!!!! Cap the drain pipe now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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you've probably already seen most of this stuff in another thread on the forum , but this presentation is a bit more condensed. I anticipate that someday the supporting members may need to be replaced for any number of reasons, most of which would be damage from years of exposure to wracking ice. If the poles are set in a hole with concrete, it's pretty tuff to replace...particularly covered with water. So, I went with separate reinforced concrete support piers and killer stainless steel brackets to provide the transition to the treated 6 x 6's. This way, remove a couple of SS lags below the surface and the old timber can be removed for replacement.

What time today are we capping the drain pipe?

I want to be prepared.

Contractor should be dropping off the cap assembly at the pond sometime this morning. I'm headed down there around noon. ESPN camera crew is coming and it will be televised on ESPN 14 at 3:00AM (won't be in high-def, sorry). Setup the TiVo!!

Dang Rob that is gonna be one nice pond, and the dock, wow, first class!

So when should I raise my Henninger fine German beer in toast, as I face eastward?

Very Nice!!! Quite Inspiring. It's simply amazing.I really enjoy seeing what others are doing, and the info on this site is the best.

My Bobcat 963G is arriving next Thursday. After I learn how to operate it I am starting on my first pond. Nothing as extravagant as yours, but I am sure I will have many questions. Thanks.

Sunil...NOW is he ready for fatheads?

Yes, I'd say now, but with the understandings that we discussed before.

B, don't sweat it... we were already on RobA when he posted the first picture of some pooled water in his revamped basin.

I'm holding up my beer and facing eastward.......now.