Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam My first time building a pond

My dad and I had recently bought a caterpillar d7f dozer after a few months working it we decided to build a 3 acre pond by our self. after a few weeks of reading and studying we began by taking all the top soil out and we are now starting to build the dam my question is since this is the first time for both of us building one can some one show us what a dam looks like from the beginning so that we can have a better idea of what we're doing and how to do we know if we are making a 3:1 slope. Thank You.

Have you read this publication?

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs144p2_030362.pdf

Unless you have clay that you can make pottery from, you will most likely not be able to correctly compact the core trench, dam and pond basin properly with only the dozer.

Pay attention to the section on primary and secondary spillways. You need to calculate your watershed to correctly size them.

Welcome to the forum!

If you don't know what a 3:1 slope is, do LOTS of reading first, and buy a transit to check the slope.

To make a 3-1 slope just get a 3' long level, hold one end against the slope, hold it level, and measure the distance from the other end to the dirt.

For every three feet out, the slope should be falling one foot. So using a three foot long level you would have a foot between the level and the dirt with one end of the level touching the slope.

6 ft out, 2 foot drop, 9 foot out, 3 ft drop, etc.

As far as making the dam, the compaction you need for the soil type you have, what soils you have to work with and the clay content, a lot of factors. Make it so it is hard for someone to give you generic instructions.

When we built our 3 acre pond ourselves, we had the NRCS guy come out, look at the lay of the land, then he made us up a plan that showed the cross section of the dam and set flags out for us. We had to dig a core trench down to clay for the dam and in some places had to go 6' to reach it. We also compacted using a 4 wheel rubber tire scraper moving over the width of the tire so all soil got compacted using 6" lifts of new soil. Put in a layer of soil, compact, repeat. Then we put topsoil back on the dam so it would grow grass well.

How wide the dam needs to be is dependent on how high the dam is. Deep BOW in a ravine is going to take a tall dam equals wide at the base. Flat shallow pond dam might not be very high or wide.

You need to find someone who knows how to build ponds in your specific area. If you have really good soils for building ponds with good clay content without a tall dam it might be pretty simple to build the pond. If you have sandy soils or rocks or other difficulties and/or a tall dam you could be setting yourself up for a dam failure or leaky pond if you do not do it correctly.

Our NRCS guy was very helpful. Plus I and a couple employees knew people that built many ponds that we could ask for advice.

Better get the right info and do it right the first time or you might end up with a mud hole rather than a pond. So much is dependent on soils and conditions specific to your area. Local experience is invaluable.

"Unless you have clay that you can make pottery from, "

Esshup, funny you say that. There used to be a pottery company just five miles north of me that was in business since sometime before I was born and there is an ACME brick plant about 5 miles SW of me.

We curse our clay pan soils when it comes time to plant crops and the water has to either run off or evapoarate off the top when it has rained too much. Leave a "dip" in a terrace channel and we have an unintended "pond" that lasts till the water evaporates.

Guess I never thought of it before as a blessing when it comes time to build a pond.

Edit: Also forgot Dickey Clay, the clay tile business that has been there for probably a hundred years that is 5 miles from me.

Start with digging a core trench!!!VERY IMPORTANT