Originally posted by Lance Kleckner:
What caused it: Water found a way through your steep dam. I've seen backslide around here. Most people just hire a bulldozer to build a pond and the results are alot of times less than promising.
I would guess if you had a gentler slope, the risk would be less.
I agree, I think the water seeped into the dam and through it... towards the bottom of the clay dam. Then, it just washed away. Whats amazing is the water flow you see in the picture, is all there has ever been. The water flow would easily fit inside a garden hose with little pressure. There had been a large tree, which he took out but maybe the root peice was there and he didnt know it. I am surprised though that the break was about 30 feet long. I feel fortunate in some regards, the dam broke with very little pressure (considering what it would have been if 3-4 feet more water had been in the pond, which would have been filled. The dozer had a blade that was about 6 feet or so long. It was a normal dozer, not an excavator.
