Hi everyone. Someone from another forum suggested that I post on this site regarding a bulge in my dam. The dam is clay and holds about 16' of water. The pond is about an acre. It is about 16' wide on top which is a driveway. Last summer I noticed an area about 1/2 way down the dam that seemed to be muddy all the time. The pond is full for the first time now (its about 4 years old, had to drain it once to fix a leak on the bottom from mining core hole 2 years ago) and the muddy area has gotten bigger. It's about 1/2 way down and approx. 10'x 20' and bulging maybe 6" to 8". The entire dam is about 240' long. There is not any noticeable dip in the road, however I am concerned about heavy loads going over it now. I wanted to get a few loads of stone delivered and the loaded trucks probably weigh around 50,000 lbs.

Should I try adding bentonite to the water, or am I going to have to drain the pond and add it to the side of the dam? Or are there other options? I read some posts before I posted and I noticed several people mentioning that clay dams leak. But I don't know if they are referring to ones that are also used as roads.

Thank you,
Jeff