I have a stream bed that has flowing water through it my question is how do I dig the core accross it with the water flowing through it? How do I keep the core from filling up with water while I dig and pack the clay back in for the core?

i'm not familiar with the creek , but you have to reroute it out of the way , if you have to do it in sections. i had creek flowing in my pond , thought great idea at the time , keep water level up . then i had no control over what was coming into the pond , nutrients , chemicals, who knows what somebody up creek puts in. so i moved the creek over about 50' last summer and the pond looks great so far this year. i'm sure the pros who make ponds will jump in.

You are going to have to direct water away from core sight ,remember streams flow under ground so you will have to put in a pump out pit up stream to work on cross trench.
When building core across stream bed make a lateral and horizontal core dig down till there is no signs of stream bed ,if your stream is 2 foot wide make the core at least 6 foot in both directions to get a good seal.Make sure you compact clay in 6"lifts and clay content should be 70%,remove all rocks and debis when building
Good Luck
Scott

Scott I am glad you responed!! thanks for your help I have a few Questions..

What do you mean by a pump out pit? Do I dig a pit up stream from the core site and start pumping out water from there?

How would I know that there was no more stream bed as I was digging? It seems as if the core would strat filling with water as I was digging?

What do you mean by lateral and horizontal core dig?

thanks again for your help...

big_pond,
I had 2 streams feeding my pond. We dug new stream beds & directed both into one which was moved to what was to be one end of the dam. Then we dug & filled the core for 2/3 of the dam while installing the primary drain pipe. We then dug new creek channels feeding to the pipe. It was then possible to dig the remaining 1/3 core & finish the dam.

Scott is refering to a pit dug above the dam (uphill) site which all water (runoff & any streams) will run into. This hole will be constantly pumped out while the dam is being built.

The stream bed will be rocky & sandy. You want to remove all the rocks & sand.

Lateral & horizontal .. he's refering to digging the standard core for the dam, & also digging a core perpendicular to the dam where the original stream would have passed under the dam.

thanks Ric for your help
lets say I have my pump out pit up stream from the dam..... would this pit keep most maybe 85% of the water from the stream out of the core site? Also how do I know when I have dug deep enough and gone through the entire stream bed?

Hey, Big Pond:

In creating a pond from a small stream — here in Central Texas they're called "low-water crossings" — you must: (a.) wait for the dry season; (b.) divert the water; (c.) build a coffer dam that will hold back the water and allow you to work.

The last option can be tricky. Amateurs need not apply.

Mark McDonald
founding editor
Boerne

big_pond,
As stated before, the stream bed should be sandy & rocky & shouldn't be very deep (thick). When you reach clay type soil you will be through the stream bed.