No.None at all. It took about one season for the loose soil to settle and it is locked in good at this point. I would have lessened the slope a little if I did it again so I could have used the bobcat to cover the slopes. I couldn't really use the bobcat for the steep sides. What I did was dump loads at the top and then raked it down. Or the kids did.
But honestly you will be surprised how tight the soil you cover the tarp will become. Gravity I guess. So far so good for mine.
Just read your first post again and you state you are only doing a portion of the bottom. If you read my post you will see I tried that a couple years before and it just leaked where the liner stopped. I ended up having to remove the first try and redo the whole thing. Just a thought but I would go all the way up the first time. But every pond is different.
