Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site Location Re-think

I had my heart set on one location for my pond, but I got some news this week that may change it. One purpose of putting in a pond is that I am going to use the dirt from the pond site to build up my future homesite.

I was going to put the pond in an area in the open pasture and put my homesite in an area that is surrounded by trees. However, I just found out that to build up my homesite above the flood plain I need to elevate 7 FEET!!! That is considerably more than what I originally intended and I don't think that it would look right if I had to build up my homesite in a small area that is surrounded by trees.

I am now looking to move my pond where my original homesite was going to be and move my new homesite out to another area. The revised homesite is more open and would enable me to build the elevation up more gradually. I think this would look better.

I am more than likely going to build a levy all the way around the pond and not rely on watershed so the exact location relative to water drainage is not a factor. That being said, the revised pond location would be even more condusive to utilizing watershed.

I will try to find out how to post pictures on here now. I think it would make a lot more sense seeing what I am talking about.

is there a link to the directions for uploading pictures to this site?

Hey Makoclay...
Go here for pic posting guidance . It is located within the Archives division of the forum. You might want to skip thru the entire Archives section for thoughts and ideas.
Perhaps you can secure an aerial and/or a topo map to post. You may want to make sure you eliminate identification and location info if you want to maintain anonimity.
Looking forward to more input.

Thanks for the link.

Here is a picture of the original plan.

Sorry to hear of your 7 foot elevation setback; glad you're taking it as an opportunity to rethink both house and pond.

Here is the my new location for the house and pond. Hopefully you can see where the pond would be nestled in amongst these trees which I think will enhance the looks of the pond. I just wanted to put the house there.

The only real problem that I see with the pond itself is that in this location I can only make it about 1-1.25 acres.



Anyway, I hope I have accurately described my dilema. The reason for this thread was just for information. The property slopes from east to west (you can probably see the creek running through the middle of the trees) so the location of the actual pond does not really matter.

Is that a pipeline or hi tension wires?

Neither pond site would seem to interfere with the other, so some day ... ???

P.S. Nice vacation pics, Mako. Unless I miss my guess, at least one of those trips was to Porturalia.

I liked that shot of the eye-full tower

Thanks guys (I guess). I used my wife's Photobucket account. She loves traveling and then posting pics on her blog. She has traveled to South Africa, Europe (twice) and Australia within the past year so there is no telling where the pictures came from.

That right-of-way is a pipeline. The pipeline is what limits the size of the pond in the revised location.

Is that a creek running through the trees?

Why put the pond out in the open or even mess with it near the pipleline? Can you dig out the creek? If it's not a creek, there is a nice curve to whatever it is that would make a beautiful setting in the trees from you home site. Then thin the trees between the homesite and lake site for an awesome view.

I do like the fact that you are building away from the road. I realize it's a financial reason to build close to the road, but haveing that privacy sure is nice.

Good luck,
Eddie

Thanks for the input guys. We have decided what we are going to do. We are going to put the pond in the original homesite. We will utilize a containment wall along the back side of the elevated ground.

I have looked into these containment walls and I feel we can make this a really look nice instead of give the look that we are trying to minimize the required elevation. I am going home in April and will design this and get started on the excavation.

Does anybody have any experience with a containment wall? Should I start a thread dedicated to these containment walls? I have found a website that sells these. The site is allanblock.com. They make prefabricated bricks but I was thinking about just hiring a mason and have him do this for me.

a containment wall the same as a retaining wall. I actually think that most people know these as a retaining wall

Welcome aboard Maco
They're also called bulkheads.I just did one on the back side of my damand found out afterwards I did it wrong.If you want it to stay where you put it be SURE you do it right.I almost lost a bobcat and ford tractor because I didnt do it right.Doing it right ensures the wall doesnt lean and/or fall over.
Ill post more about THAT under stupid stunts after I finish cleaning my drawers...story at 11:00