My 1.2 acre pond is built on limestone bedrock >90' thick. Solid red clay sides. We blasted a deep hole (40' x 90' x 12' deep = 1 drill rod)in the bedrock then hoped it would hold water... I did. First pic is about a week after the blast (we have great 35mm shots). An 80,000lb hoe was used to load the 6wd offroad dumptruck. We put down woven monofilament fabric beneath all the rock on the shore. Pinched the fabric under by crawler bucket and the 6wd truck backed up the slope and dumped. Spread by the hoe after that. Due to the rock size and depth (>1' in most places) and that it goes to the bottom, we haven't had any sliding. We haven't had any goose, muskrat, or otter problems either even though neighboring ponds are plagued by them. The pile of rock is exactly how it landed after the blast. There is 13' beneath the water too.
A little rest after the rock was spread and the Swim Platform finished. Note the rock on the back slope and bedrock under platform.
Shot of the beach area with the smooth surface bedrock pieces salvaged from the pile. Fall 2007 Drawdown prior to rotenone and 2008 restock with SMB and YP.
The rocks are a blessing and pain all in one. Blessings mentioned above. Yes it is fairly easy to keep the shoreline weeds under control by pulling or a little ShoreClear, but even after four years the rocks are very hazardous to walk on as they constantly shift underfoot. They are also a hazard when swimming as the edges are sharp. Wish they were river rocks like in the other posts. The underwater weeds still grow fine and are hard to remove when there are rocks. Water clarity with fabric and rock is another blessing and curse.
Structural Algae post Overall, I'm glad I have the rock,sometimes more than others.
