Built my newest pond , late spring of 2022 , my contractor brought out , a scraper , a towable scraper pulled by his tractor, a road grader , 2 Excavators . Built a 1.5 -2 Acre pond in two weeks, 32' wide at crest for a road into our RV Park. Spread the spoils on back side and front side of dam, beautiful bermuda cover by spring of 2023 . He brought the equipment for my pond, my situation . But he's not just a dirt mover. His Dad started their business in the 50's building Government dams all over Ok and Tx , and he's still going 70 years later. Each step of the way, he used the best piece of equipment for the job and my situation. Did each lifts compacting with the fully loaded scrapers. It's cheaper to hire an honest pro one time , than to cry over leaks for years. One also has to keep in mind , you can't tell what is down below, sand/gravel veins , rock formations , etc , that can create unforeseen costs. Dozers, excavators, scrapers, all can build ponds, but the correct one for the particular situation, makes it go faster and a better end product. I'm not a dirt contractor, just a satisfied pond owner, glad my contractor had the tool for each step of the job. My 1st dam , part of farm when I bought the farm, built with dozer only, a dirt mover, was rebuilt 3 times a least ,before I purchased the farm. Spent a chunk of money rebuilding , it was a mess , much better than it was, but no where the dam and pond built by the pro from day one. boh , it's difficult at best to estimate the cost of a pond by anyone without being on site , without any test holes , but for a Pro , I would be with Bill , depending on all the variables , might hit $25K , depending on your ground, what can't be seen , and degree of finish work you want or expect. Mine was $55K , and very happy with end product. Sorry so long , hope it helps you see , "it all depends " and just FWIW MHO. whew !
