Steve, I don't want to give you a hard time and I'm only saying this to try and help, but I wouldn't go by anything that guy said. How long and high is your dam going to be? My dam is about 150' long and 21' high. They got all of the dirt to build it out of the pond area. They was hoping to make it 26' high but they ran out of dirt. It takes a LOT of dirt! The sides of my pond are pretty steep from all the dirt they took out to make my dam. They used two 953 high lifts to build it and it took about 4 days. Maybe my guys were slow, but I can't see someone building much of a dam in 1 day.
I appreciate it man, and I know your intentions aren't malicious. In North Carolina, a dam can only be 15' high before a permit it required, so that's what I'm working with. The length of the dam isn't going to be very long, as my pond will be more "football field shaped" than a perfect circle or oval. Using the measure tool on google maps, I estimate the dam will be between 90-110' feet long, and the overall length of the pond from the dam to the opposite shore line will be around 230'. The dam side of the pond is very deep and the opposite side is very shallow, so I assume he was planning on taking dirt from both the shallow end and the sides to make the dam (if he even intended on doing it, of course).
@esshup - The issue that I'll probably have is estimating the cost of the timber, since I've only seen him take 2 small loads to the mill. He said he only got $500 for the first load because he didn't cut them to the preferred lengths that the mill wanted. The 2nd load should've netted more. I work 2nd shift and leave for work around 2pm everyday so I honestly have no idea if he's taken more loads that I'm unaware of. Also, out of the $8500 I've given him, I have no idea how they would estimate how much work he's actually done relative to the amount he quoted me and the amount he's completed. He's done mostly tree work, and very little dirt work. I'll try to get some pictures or videos of the mess I have and see what you guys think.
