Thanks for the concern Rainman and based on what you read it is probably well founded .. but I did compact with the dozer and vibratory roller at the 6 to 10 inch increments .. doze the loads off run over the areas then jump on the roller and make 5 or 6 pases ...
the excavator would come over about every four feet and pick out unnacceptalbe rock that had been pushed over the face .. he would then tamp (pound) the face with the bucket bottom to bind the soils in the face like you mention .. at higher levels he lined the face from the bottom up with approximately one foot of clay and then place the rock from the bottom up ..
My bouyancy problem comes from the lenght of pipe extended into the pond coupled with the lack or weight on top or the pipe at the toe or the dam .. I believe I created a beach ball under water effect ..
I should have secured the end prior .. hindsight is always 20/20 .. I got the metal today and like I said before will weld together a 3 sided cradle to go over the pipe when the pond is drained . the excavator will drive the metal stucture as deep as needed to bring the pipe back to grade .. I will then backfill the end with clay .. compact and stack big flat stone on the metal structure to hold the pipe down
I could undig the dam when drained and redo .. it would probably take about a day .. If I saw a stretch of dry weather I probably would .. just to be on the safe side .. I do not know what damage the pipe lift did to the pipe integrity .. I have never heard of this before and am a little concerned about the coupling .. did it detach ??
