liquidgold, since you mentioned concrete let me explain what my latest idea is. One of my close friends is the top dog in the engineering department at the University of Texas and is one of the world's leading authorities on concrete.
I ran this idea by him last night. I am considering digging a 1' trench 10' deep down the length of the dam to a depth of 2' below natural grade to serve as my core. Then using a pump truck, pump fiber filled concrete (since I can't really use wire or steel) into the trench. To insure the concrete impermeability, I can use a gallon of sodium silicate in each load to waterproof the concrete. The pond level is now below natural grade, so wet soil in the dam causing the sides of the trench to collapse should not be a problem.
Cost wise, this is a much cheaper solution: a 10'X100'X1' = 1000 cubic feet of concrete or about 37 yards; $600 for the pump truck and whatever the excavation costs are to dig the trench. Right now concrete is $73/yard where I am located so that is about $2700 of concrete and if it works it is longterm solution.
Dr D ( my buddy the engineer) thinks this is an intriguing idea and his main concern is that the trench might be difficult to excavate 1' without the sides caving in. (I'm thinking that the soil compaction will take care of that.) Even if I had to go to 2' wide, it would still only be $5400 compared to over $8000 to buy clay not counting the $8000-$10,000 in machine and labor costs to core and compact the clay and pond.
What does this forum think of this idea, will it work?
