Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pier pilings question

Ready to fill 18 acre renovation project. Would like to leave pilings for a pier 90 feet of walkway and about 24 x 24 platform with a gazebo. What piling material to use? steel pipe? concrete filled pvc? what size and how deep do I drill my holes in hard clay. Any good sources would be appreciated.

Thanks Dr Bob
Eunice LA

Bob,
Member #1898 tells me you have been following the wisdom (and antics) of this fine collection of pond-mentors much longer than I. For this reason, I presume you have already tapped the pier-construction threads. If not, search the word pier, starting with "Category Intro" so it runs 'em all.
I am right where you are with the same projects before me, albeit a considerably smaller hole in the ground. A little later this morning, I will fire up the digital camera and share some of my trademark "over-kill engineering" plans.

Bob:

What's the deepest the water will be under your pier/gazebo?

Many different post materials have been used successfully - steel pipe and concrete filled PVC as you mentioned, treated wood (several discussions on whether PM's want that in or above there ponds) in sizes from 4"x4" (too small IMO) to 8"x8" (huge IMO), concrete filled cardboard carpet roll-centers, and my own beloved hedgeapple posts (all the beauty of wood with the convenience of nail-bending toughness, plus hard to find straight enough to use in more than 4 feet of water). Ted Lea once posted a pic of a dock that used pre-stress concrete beam seconds; it was a monstrously strong affair that looked like half an interstate ended in a pond.

I did a little searching for various combos of "pier", "dock", "post", and "piling" in Questions & Observations and the Pond Construction topics, and there are WAY too many threads that may be pertinant to you for my 1/2 speed Saturday morning brain to pick out all the good ones. However, here is just one large thread with several post and deck methods discussed: Building a Pier

WRT aesthetics, we have seen pics of several nice piers here. Norm Kopecky's is the only one the comes readily to mind. Norm's has also been shown in PB Mag. IIRC it's on the order of 12 feet wide x 100 feet long and the half farthest in the water is roofed over - wonderful for fishing in heavy rain or heavy sun. There was a post with pics of a really nice enlarged, covered area with seats and railings on the end of a pier (perhaps something like what you are thinking of) sometime in the last 6 months, but I can't remember who built it and I couldn't find it in the many pier threads this AM while searching. Maybe someone will remember who it was.

Thanks Brettski & Theo, very helpful information. My main problem is I am too much of a perfectionist when it comes to this lake project, "overkill engeneering" as Brettski put it is usually the result. You guys need to see this old cypress swamp that I transformed into a lake with the help of pond boss, Ray Scott and people like you all. I will attempt to post some pictures. I would also like to come to the next PB meeting to meet everyone. Thanks again.

Dr Bob

Theo, thank you for the comments about our bridge. Here are two things we have done.

The first is a bridge to an island. We used 6" X 22" laminated beams to clear span 55'. They're sitting on poured concrete pilings on each end. The bridge is 8' wide and totals 75' long. We used 10'X 4"X4"s to go 7' up. We used typical roofing techniques to put a flat steel roof over over half of the bridge. This way people could sit in the sun or shade.

We made a second dock that is 10' wide and 32' long. This dock does not go out into the lake but is along the shore. That means we can step on the dock from anywhere along its 32' length, walk 10' and then fish. We used green treated laminated beams that were made of 4 2"X6"s. These were driven into the ground by an excavator. We then used 3"X12" bridge planking for the frame. This dock is totally covered with flat steel roofing.

Much of the fishing here is done by people in wheel chairs. Vans with the people in wheel chairs can drive right up to either place and begin fishing.

I used red bike holders attached to the framework holding up the roof. These hold all of the rods and reels. This works so well that I'm able to leave all of this equipment out all winter.

None of this fancy. I use these materials because they are locally available as used or seconds. Hopefully, this will give you some ideas.

Norm, I would LOVE to see pics of your pier creations....please?
Bob, as promised, the latest King of overkill creation...straight from the Brettski Engineering drawing board:

I plan on pouring 12" diameter concrete piers into the hard clay bottom. They will be reinforced with epoxy coated rebar verts and ties. A stainless steel anchor bolt will be set into the top (see pic). Then, these post anchors will be bolted to the top of the concrete pier. 6 x 6 treated timbers will be set into the post anchor brackets and lagged in from the side with 1/2" x 4 stainless steel lags (there is capacity for 4 lags per post...will probably only use 2 lags per post...c'mon now, really!) Before setting the post, I will locate the final position of the lag within the SS bracket base and countersink a hole in the base of the 6 x 6 to accommodate the top of the SS anchor bolt, washer, and nut. This way, the 6 x 6 will bear evenly across the base of the post anchor bracket.
The story on the bracket: I drew it up and submitted it to a metal fab shop near work. I told them I wanted to use 316 stainless between 1/8" and 3/16" thick. I hoped that they would have something in stock for economy...they understood and made an offer for some 1/8" they had in stock. I accepted. They programmed the laser and went to get the 1/8" stock...uh-oh...not there. He called me and asked if I would mind if they used 1/4" stock at the same price. I told them if they were confident that they could pull the bends on a 1/4" radius without fracture...hmmmm....OK.
Done.
If this interests you, let me know and I can e-mail the isometric view drawing.

...I think some of these are within the Building a Pier thread...not sure, but let's put 'em right here for inspiration:
(if I have put Jeff or Al out by posting their pics, just say so guys...no offense, I'll take 'em down)
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Jeff Gaines was the original inspiration:


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Then, Al (aka Ahvatsa) kicked it up a notch with his creation:


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BAM!!!
Fire up the generator, cuz we got's us some mo' pond stuff to build.