We've been working to renovate an old pond...about an acre. We breached the dam and excavated the silt and are now ready to repair the dam and set a new outlet pipe.
I met with an engineer yesterday who suggested we not replace the outlet pipe in the trench we dug to drain the pond. He wants us to put a new pipe through the dam horizontally at the desired water height and then put in a 45 and run the pipe down the back of the dam above ground. He felt we'd have a much stronger dam and wouldn't have to deal with a seep collar. He's proposing a 10" PVC pipe.
I'm indifferent on the issue. It's not really an aesthetic issue where it sits, so that's not a problem. I would worry a little about ice, but maybe that's not a big deal. Just haven't seen many ponds done this way.
Is this a bad idea?
