The "Dream" inches closer and closer to completion. The picture show the main pond 1.5 acres and 25 feet deep and the second pond about .5 acres and 10 feet deep.
What is missing??? The forage ponds. I commented to the excavator that he should have finished the main pond using all the clay that he needed before building the forage ponds because if there was not enough clay to finish the main pond, what good are the forage ponds. We then decided that we should raise the dam 1-4 feet more to widen the main pond. Without calling, they knocked down the forage ponds and took all the clay. Yes, the dam was raised 4 feet but I told him but I would have liked the choice of raising the dam 2 feet and forage ponds or raising the dam 4 feet and no forage ponds. Without the forage ponds and marsh there is no water control for the run off and with the heavy recent rains has already started to erode the banks of the second pond. The ecavator is behind and profit is dwindling so he is ready to be done. He says he will stay and finish. I think we have two more weeks of work if he brings back the equipment.
We still need to dig a marsh of some sort to control the water but there is not much if any clay left. We are trying to dig a shallow trench, 200 feet long by 40 feet in front of the second pond. I am hoping for a nice 0 entry to about 4 feet. This will control water and give me a place to still grow out minnows. Not exactly what I had wanted but it might work.
We still need to slope the backs of the dams a bit.
Big disappointment is that they will not riprap the ponds. Somehow, the 3000 tons of rock was or is not enough. They decided to truck some of the rock off site even when I told them not to do that until we made sure I had enough to finish my job. They did it anyway. I would be livid (I was all weekend waiting for the excavator to call)except now I do not think I should pay full price for a job that was bid to have 5-6 ponds albeit 4 were very small and riprap around all the ponds. Without the riprap, there should be a significant price reduction. The problem is that so many mistakes have been made they have been spending time and money just re-doing things over and over. But, as much as the excavator is trying to do a good job, re-doing mistakes and the costs involved are not my problem.
I need to seed the dams, move out the structure from the house, finish the beach area, install well and electric just to mention a few things.
patience.
