Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam New Pond Construction in Watkins Glen, NY

Haven't updated this for a few months so I thought I might.
The guys I hired brought a D6K and a D6T along with an excavator and roller and did the majority of the work in just over 3 weeks. As I mentioned in another post, we hit some veins of gravel/sand that leaked (water came in), so they did their best to not dig into these areas and I purchased 2 tons of bentonite and mixed it into 6" of clay at a rate of 2lbs/sf. I used this to "patch" over any areas that were dug slightly too low and this stopped >95% of the leaks. Overall, the pond is about 1' shallower than planned, a little over 8' instead of 9' as hoped, and we extended out some of the shallow spawning areas, but I think we maybe did OK.

We have gotten periodic rain but are in somewhat of a drought. This has made it possible to keep working. I put in some gravel areas and some topsoil for water lilies in the shallow areas. I have posts in the ground for the dock and am working of the spillways, inlets, and the beach.

I had put in over 450' of silt fence and a construction entrance, and the Department of Environmental conservation stopped by and talked to the construction crew; they seemed happy with what we were doing and didn't make a stink.

If rain holds off for another week then we should be ready to fill the pond when it does come.

I have included pictures of the entire pond, the "west end" with some structure, and the submerged island, and unfinished dock (I still have questions about how high above the water the dock cross-members have to be to avoid ice damage).