First I started on the low side near the pipeline right-of-way with the dozer, digging down and out to prepare for the dam trench.
I kept pushing dirt and started moving toward the center a bit. The piles of dirt were getting in the way and making it hard to push more out of the pit, so I spent a good part of a day shoving the dirt piles out into the field and leveling them out more. This picture is before I did that.
So I kept pushing dirt but as I got to the middle, I realized real quick that there is a pretty large area of solid rock in a continuous slab. My little dozer can't do anything but scrape the top of it.
The good thing is that I shot levels on everything and the rock slab should be under at least three feet of water when the pond is full. I haven't decided what I will do yet. I'm thinking I will leave it as it is and perhaps make a small island on top of part of it for geese.
This next picture is fairly recent and you can see the piles of dirt on the far side have been pushed out and leveled down to about 18 inches in depth and extend in the field about 30 to 50 feet. There is plenty material when the dam building commences. You can see the high spot in the middle that is the rock slab. I have good solid clay on both sides of it and have some pretty deep holes and trenches. The dirt on the right side is extra dirt. No dam is needed there. I still have to dig out the right edge so it won't slope up so slowly.
The next picture is the most current I have for now. We actually had about an inch of rain last weekend. A good bit of it soaked into the parched ground, but some of it made its way into the pond area and you can see the depths a bit more. I still need more rain so the clay is moist enough to start packing in the dam area. This rain soaked about 4 inches of dirt. Everything under it is still bone dry. It is raining as I speak and has been off and on all day, but not in quantity. I'll take all I can at this point.
So this is where I stand at this point in time. I'll post more pictures and progress notes as things happen. Can't wait to get back out there and do more. Hope I'm not boring everyone with this. Here is one last picture of my wife and I caught by one of the game cameras as we were cruising the trails in the four-wheeler last March. If you will have a garden next year, you can cut out my picture and use it to keep the crows out of your corn.
