HOLY COW, that's a lot of dirt. I was struggling with 9,000 cu yds, I cannot imagine having to deal with 56,000. Looks sweet, I hope you get your dream b/c it will be very nice when complete.
Good idea on the shelves, it saves quite a bit on dirt removal vs running a straight 3:1 slope to depth. May do a comparison against running a shelf at 6ft vs the 8ft and see how much it lowers your total cubic feet, could be an option if you need to cut money.
A very common suggestion on the forum is to take that one really big pond and make several smaller ponds. This allows for forage ponds or different species ponds. Construction costs would probably be less and not as much dirt to deal with. I see the benefits of both so it really is more of a preference thing.
What is your plan for all that dirt, cannot imagine you would have it hauled out? You could build Mt Everest in your own backyard!!!!
