Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Explosives ??

Are explosives ever warranted in the construction of a pond?

I have a shallow slough in the midwest that is about 3 feet deep. I want to deepen the pond and wonder if explosives would give me what I want. The soil has a very high clay content, so I don't think dredging would work. The pond would be somewhere between 4 and 7 acres in size.

Thanks

A couple questions that immediately jump to my mind are the permits and effectiveness. Permits might be difficult to obtain. On an area that large, you might just be blowing dirt up in the air to come down in the area you just previously cleared. Might not be that cost effective either actually unless you could devise the explosives and everything yourself. I've seen recipes, but never tried them. I wouldn't rule out being able to drain it and then deepen it; but would definitely check swampbuster regulations and etc. first at local conservation office.

Draining it may be a problem because this 5-7 acre slough is actually a small "lobe" off of a larger 80 acre slough. Even if I could seal it off from the larger slough and drain it, I think the subsoil would be so wet that getting any heavy equipment in there to dig deeper than about 5 feet would be a nightmare. I know this, because we dug a hole last month about 200 yards from the big slough to bury an old farmhouse and hit seepage water at about 12 feet.

You aren't considering trying to do this with explosives yourself are you? I would highly recommend you don't go that route. They may be able to float in a barge to do the dredging work or something of that nature. If you had alot of rock explosives might be necessary, but with decent soil there should be a cheaper/easier/safer way to go.

I hate to say this but the regulations surrounding wetlands is so restrictive im not sure that you would be able to do anything. Thats the first thing i would check. Another consideration is if it would be in a location that you could stock it. In minnesota your pond must be above the 20yr flood mark to obtain a stocking permit.