Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? Here we go. Breaching the dam!

It really is pretty cool, Anna. Yep, good documentation with the pics and text.
I can already hear the Alabama Glee Club tuning up...

We need a good picture of Bubba.

Wow, Im tagging along to see the progress.

Well, this has been a week! Yesterday was the worst. All day everyday I have been chomping at the bit to be out at the pond to watch the progress but I've had to work. At 5:00 everyday I have shot out of the door and headed to the land. It's amazing what big machines can do in a few days.

Yesterday morning my whole day got completely shot. This part of the post should probably be filed under "Don't try this at home." My store is in an old farmhouse out in the country. A good friend cuts the acre yard for store credit (he has a BIG dog). We have five huge old fig trees and lots of pecan trees on the lot. After cutting the grass he decided to pick some figs for his wife to preserve. Did I mention he was picking the figs from the top rung of a 6 foot ladder on uneven ground? Needless to say it ended badly. My GMC Jimmy became an ambulance and poor Rick had a dislocated foot and broken ankle. He had to have surgery last night. At the same hospital my mom was having chemo and needed Ginger ale. So I spent my entire morning between the ER and the Dr's Center.

By the time I finally got to the land yesterday everyone had gone home. But wow! What they got done was again amazing.

These pics span Tuesday through Thursday. The work has been slow going due to all the trash that was in the pond. They are having to haul out all the trash one load at a time. But the island did take shape and is at about the right elevation.











BLACK SCUM. YUCK!!

















A few of the land work they have done.

I'll get one for you today. He is just the nicest fellow. His nine year old son Josh rides on his lap and he has a little Peke named Skipper that rides in the excavator and on the dozer with him too. He's the cutest thing. He just hops from machine to machine, jumps up on the tracks and then into the cab.

Thanks for the update sorry to hear about the medical problems.

How big is this site? It looks like it is huge, from the pictures.

What are you doing with the material --trash-- you are getting out of the pond?

Thanks Otto.

We are burning as much of the trash as we can. What we can't burn we are using to fill in some wash outs on the south end of our property and covering it up. Hauling it to the dump would cost a fortune and since it is purely organic material I don't mind burying it for now.

The total property is 20 acres. I think the pond is about 1 1/2 - 2 acres total. Here's an aerial of the place to give you an idea of the pond size. However the pond size has increased. It is now all the way up to the small road that runs around the pond on the left side that you can see in the photo.

Anna:

The place is shaping up nicely. How deep is it going to be? It might seem like a big dirt hole now, but when it's finished it will be worth it.

You're gonna be living the high life when it is all finished... Your dogs are gonna be happy!

It will be somewhere around 12-14 feet in the deep channel against the dam and will be 6' at the end of the island and taper upwards toward the shoreline.

I know it's not optimum but when you consider what we started with it is a little better.

12-14 feet is very reasonable, as long as your pond isn't leaky anymore I think that will be plenty deep enough.

You are making good progress. Will you be planting grass on the slope soon ? Any trees going on the island ? If so be sure to put chicken wire around the trunk to keep the beavers off. Now is the time to think outside the box about unique items like places to sit and watch (bench) , specific places for unique trees around the pond , plants etc.

Great pictures. Was all the wood in the pond to provide structure for the fish? Is fishing a goal with this pond? Are you going to put any of the wood back into the pond for structure?

Eddie

Anna, what's the latest on you restoration? Inquiring minds........

Been wondering about that also.

Sorry for the delay. The pond was done about two weeks ago and since then we have had torrential rains. Looks like I will have to redo a lot of the work. I will try to get the pictures of the finished job posted in the next day or so. It came out beautiful. But the rain has eroded the banks and the island. I've got to find the time to get a dozier back in there to fix it all again. But it's a small fix compared to the original job.

It rained the day after we finished and has rained almost everyday since. There has not been enough time to get grass planted although I have 300 lbs of seed on hand.

The wood was not structure for the fish. There were approximately 90 dump truck loads. It was used as a trash pit I am afraid. Of course that increased the budget by a 1/4th but there was nothing we could do and no way of foreseeing the problem.

Thanks Everyone and I promise pictures coming soon.

Finally found the time to upload the finished photos. This is how it looked the day we finished. Sadly, the next day and for the week afterwards we had torrential rains and experienced a lot of erosion. Hopefully that will all get repaired next week. Also, the peninsula ended up being too high and will be taken down 5 feet as well as having all the sand that washed into the pond being dug out again. Anyway. It is 100% better than it was.

First the Crew.

From left to right, Travis, Dan, Bubba and Skipper and in front Jake.



Bubba and Skipper



North bank



South to north view



Pond now at full pool and a look at our new terraces and fresh grass.







Fishing for Rottweilers



Dog's enjoying the pond for the first time.

Nala

She was helping me clean the debris out of the pond by swimming out and dragging in the logs. It was hilarious!




Atticus

The place looks spectacular Anna!

No pics of the Love Shack?

Just for you Rainman! We got $50 for the scrap!

damn raccoons...always leave the carcass
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An amazing transformation on the pond project, Anna. Nice work...we knew we could count on Skipper.

Great job Anna !!! Looks a lot better and much more useable - for you , Nala and Atticus . What about Skipper does he swim or just ride shotgun ? He would look like one of George1�s fuzzy flies if he does. Here is one of Skipper's buddies Lucky making sure that I don't mess up his swimming area.

Lucky is too cute! He looks like he could keep you in line. Actually Skipper is a member of the crew and lives with Bubba. But I have three more, Charlie and Buddy Love, both Nottweilers (I was told by the shelter they were Rottweilers but when they got here they weren't) and Mabel my Bloodhound. Of course I will also have at least one foster dog too once things settle down.

Anna:
How cool and exciting, but I miss the love shack still, and those beads, homeowner meeting next Tuesday, they would have been perfect!

Those beads... They were cheap knockoff's! We hung them in the tree and they faded in a week. All the color leached off of them. You deserve better.

We started pond reno stage two yesterday and I must be cursed. The forecast for today is torrential rains. Same as last time. I don't think I will ever get this thing right.

Today's plan is to plant grass as soon as they finish and to put down hay to hold it in place. I'm a bit worried about the hay getting into the pond and sucking up all the oxygen as it decomposes but I don't think I have a choice. Hydro-seeding is $2500 an acre and not in the budget.

Have a good meeting and give them Hell 2Catmom!

2" of rain here last night and more forcast for today.