Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam How much of the top of your dam is core?

It seems like I remember reading years ago that the top of the dam wouldn't functionally need to be 10' wide, or whatever it is, but it's just made that wide to allow traffic across it. Am I remembering correctly? I'd like to sink some steel pipes on the back slope of my dam just off the top to mount some solar cells. Is there some reason this wouldn't be advisable?

I'm sure it depends on the clay content and the extent it's packed down. I've seen VERY heavy machinery roll over a dam less than 10' and decades later there's less than 1 foot freeboard holding, year after year.

Solar panels on pipe shouldn't stand more than 5-8 feet above ground...set them in cement 36-48" I don't see a problem. However, you didn't state the size of the solar array. What size solar panels are you using and how many?

I've got a couple of those 100 watt arrays from Harbor Freight. Really don't know if one would be enough to supply a little remote power or not, but one is what I was thinking for now. I was thinking of putting them a little above "rock chucked from lawn mower height", however high that is.

It all depends on the slope of the dam and how long you plan on owning the property. The water side of the dam will erode over time, making the top of the dam narrower. 10' wide isn't very wide if you plan on driving more than an ATV over it. Sinking the pipes into the back side of the dam shouldn't cause any issues.

Jimmi,

I think driving your steel pipes will be just fine.

Driving piles is a common mitigation technique to stabilize slopes. One way that dams fail is by one of the sloped faces slumping (sliding) downhill. Your steel pipes would actually help RESIST the slumping forces.

(One way to screw up, would be to auger your holes for the cement or sonotubes and then leave the holes open for a big rain. You do not want water going in the holes and then down to a weak horizon in the backside of the dam. Hopefully, you can just drive your pipes straight in - that is quick work on my property where the ground allows me to do that.)

P.S. I believe "rock chucked from lawn mower height" is a very important scientific measurement! Hopefully you can report your results back to Pond Boss after you determine that exact height.

When you are measuring rock chuck elevation, dont forget to add in for angle of the slope of the mower deck, if you are mowing along the back or front of a dam that could tilt your rock chuking blades at a reasonably elevated angle.