Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam What does "core the dam" mean?

Two rules of thought on why you core a dam that I've come up with.

First, it stops the path of water from traveling under the dam. When you put new soil on top of existing soil, you have a layer between the two soils that is not a 100% seal. In time, this can lead to water working it's way through the dam along this line. The core creates a barrier that stops this path.

Second, it locks the dam into place. The water in the pond has allot of weight and presure pushing outwards. If the dam was just dirt piled up, it wouldn't be able to withstand the force of the water and could either move, or break. The dam needs a certain amount of weight to counter the weight of the water. Creating the proper slopes helps to distribute this force, but you still need the mass of the dam to be suficiant to hold back the water. By coring the dam, you are makeing it heavier and bigger. The same is true for how high above water level you build up the dam. Depending on how tall the dam is, you need a certain width, height and depth to it in order to it to be permanent. Soild types are also very important to this formula.

Eddie