My wife and I recently had a pond dug, so I am trying to take advantage of an "empty" pond to build a dock while it is easy and above water.

First problem: My soil type is a total mush of clay, sand, and rocks up the size of tractor tires. Yes, good dam materials, no, lousy post digging and holding. No matter where you dig, you hit a rock after chiseling through the hardest packed "soil" you have ever seen. One step shy of a rock itself.

So my solution was to dig 8 1-2 foot deep holes up the side of the dam, pound 3x 3' long masonry spikes down so only 6" were exposed, and then fill the holes with crack resistant concrete and then drop a 4x4 concrete footer block on top. Then I added some hardware screwed/secured to the top of the blocks to hold my wood with the ability to pivot a little. (All hot-dipped anodized) Then I packed all around these footers with more clay and rocks for any additional sealing I may or may not need.

Second problem: Lumber. I would have never thought getting treated round posts of at least 14' long would be difficult in WNY. Turns out I would have to purchase 30 posts to get the proper treatment on the lumber. I wonder what I would have done with the other 26 posts (besides going broke)? I wound up settling for 4x4s with CMA treatment,which is supposed to be very good for low-leach in fresh water.

Third problem: Cost. My gosh this is adding up! Lumber costs a lot these days. I haven't even purchased the surface materials yet (any recommendations for a swimming dock?)

Forth problem: My lumber isn't here yet, and we are supposed to get 1-2" of rain tomorrow night. Experience has shown I get about 18" of new water in this pond for every 1" of rain. The bottom-most footer is about 1/2 under and the water is one step shy of having ice on it. Uh-oh. Cold wet work when the lumber gets here!

Fifth problem: Mud. I couldn't invent better boot-glue. That stuff sticks to boots like crazy. A few steps in and each foot weighs an additional 10 lbs. Very tiring to work there when things are wet! I had one day where I thought I was in trouble as I could barely lift my feet and kept sliding back in the hole.


So this forecast has me a bit worried of taking what seemed like an easy project and turning it into a nightmare.

Thought I would share.

If I were to do this again I would have ordered those floating docks that you can piece together like Legos. They looked interesting but expensive, but based on how this project is panning out, may have been a deal.