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

Update 3
We put in a beach and swim area using the recommended 15:1 slope for limiting sand erosion with a 15’x40’ level area at around 2-1/5 feet of water for beginners and for in-water games. Under the 6-9”of sand is geo-textile with 2” of #1/#2 smooth stone. It took 3 truckloads or around 56 tons of sand. The pond drops off to around 8’ past the beach so we added eyelets on the dock pilings and a fence post set near the drop off to run ropes with floats that will mark the kiddy swim course area. The top of the beach extends on either side into grassy areas to make it seem more natural and we added rocks for this reason and to sit on (one designated grandma rock where you can soak your feet while watching the kiddies). See picture in update 2 for overview and the three beach pictures included in this post. The flat area at the bottom of the beach made for a great staging area for dock building.

I had advice on the dock from a friend that used to build piers off the coast of MA, but I’m sure I didn’t live up to his standards. The completed dock is shown. I went with telephone poles cut about in half for the dock pilings. These run from 9-13” at the bottom and 8-3/4”-11” at the top. We dug holes using a 12” auger, placed the poles, and added 3 bags of concrete to each. The cross members are dual 2x10’s bolted to notched poles with 5/8” HDG bolts and square washers.

The attached Cross Member are pictured in the attachment that also shows two lower 2x8’s I attached to use as temporary scaffolding. This made it easier to do the notching, which I made using jigs. It also allowed me to stand out over the water to work when needed. The stringers are 2x8 and also bolted to notched poles where possible. I show the partially completed frame. You can see the 16Ga copper caps that protect the poles (my friend’s suggestion). We went with 2x6 planking and SS screws. I hope this holds up to the weather and ice but may need to add a bubbler at some point to limit ice stress. The dock landing is 12x15 and the ramp is 5’ wide.

The water is slowly rising so we don't really know how all this will turn out... fingers crossed.