Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions Price in SE Oklahoma

Just bought 100 acres and I’m looking to build a 1.5 th 2.5 acre pond no trees to clear. Anyone able to give me a guesstimate of what that will run? There are some massive watersheds in the area that the army core of engineers put in and tons of ponds in the area so I’m assuming the soil I’d pretty good. There are tons of rocks on top of the soil so I’m not sure what that means... 123 go!

Okie, I grew up in Oklahoma but left there when I graduated high school. Welcome to the forum. Since no one else has jumped in for an answer I guess I will. How about $15,000 per acre. There is a phrase here on the forum and that is "IT DEPENDS" . And I would say it is a pretty good commit considering we don't know what you have to start with.

Okie, drive around the area looking for ponds. Ask who did it, how much it cost and whether they would use that guy again. Ask why.

Just got quoted 4-5000 an acre..

Saw your other post - will comment here. Did the NRCS help you with a design? I asked them for help and within two days they gave me an outline based on topography, amount of dirt to construct the dam, spillway location, emergency overflow, and ideas for discharge pipe sizing. The quote per acre doesn't mean much - the contractor needs to know "how much dirt" to be moved. My contractor was very familiar with the NRCS's designs and punched his calculator based on the yardage. Hope to break ground in a few weeks.

4000-5000 acre??? That might get you a hole-but not a "pond".
I feel I can safely say digging the hole is the easy part. What you do with the basin after that is what matters, but you need to be looking ahead at several things that I can tell you by experience, doesn't come to mind until the problem presents itself.
I would HIGHLY recommend you give a gander at the resource guide, find Otto's dirt work/construction, give him a call and talk it over.
If you've never built or managed a pond, get someone involved-hands on-that has. I strongly feel you will regret it if you don't.

Thank you! Yes the NRCS will give the design. The area is located in a bottom. Basically the damn will be made and it will flood the area so not a whole lot of dirt to move.. I have a soil report if anyone can decipher it?

Heiden component makes up 90% of map unit. Slopes are 8-20%. The component is on hills and uplands. The parent material consists of calcareous residuum weathered from clayey shale. Depth to root restrictive layer is greater than 60 inches. Natural drainage class is well drained. Water movement in the most restrictive layer is low. Available water to a depth of 60inches ( or restricted depth) is moderate. Shrink swell potential is very high. Soil is not flooded. Not ponded. There is no zone of water saturation within a depth of 72 inches. Organic matter in surface horizon is 3%. This component R085XY002OK clay upland 38-42 Plz ecological site. This soil does not meet hydric criteria. Calcium carbonate = within 40in typically does not exceed 30%. No saline horizons. Maximum sodium absorption ratio 1 within 30 inches of soil surface...

This area is in a bowl with steep banks all around it. There is a dry channel that runs through that looks like runs thru bedrock... what do u guys think???

My 2 acre pond cost $12,000 but was not done by a POND BUILDER. two men on 2 dozers did mine and took 7 days to dig. They started dragging their feet at the end and as I was paying them by the hour I told them to pull out. I had enough!! I got what I got and it has suited me now for near 6 years. lowest it has ever gotten was 3 foot low and that still left near 9 foot in the deep end.

Unfortunately, most likely if you don't remove the surface topsoil from the pond area the nutrients that are in that soil will contribute to growing a whole bunch of algae in the pond.

I agree about getting more information, doing it right will be much cheaper in the long run.

But the most important thing is by who?

There have been horror stories of guys taking a low bid from a guy that claims: "yeah I've built a few ponds in my day".

Of course I am sure you will look at his other work and talk to his customers before deciding.

If you can get a 2 acre pond built by a professional for $8000 that is pretty sweet.