pond question

[JD hill]

About 2 years ago when i bought my land and built my house there was
a nice spring fed pond. Now because it was dirty from being under trees
and brush for years the owner before me decided to drain it and fill it in.
They said they were afraid somebody with small kids would buy and build
and a kid would get drown. At the time i lived about 200 miles away when
this took place. Do you think the spring being filled for 2 years will still be
under there are did they kill it? What should i do? Thanks.

 

[brin]

I have a spring fed pond and you should be able to walk the area where the pond used to be before they filled it in and probe around and look for moisture seeping to the surface - just dampness even and dig there and all around and see if the you get an increase over night in water..so try digging a small area around where you find it more moist and see if water accumulates..that is what I would do to begin with but there are plenty of folks here with ideas...

 

[JD hill]

Thanks. It stays kinda muddy around in spots. So i will go dig hole and
see what happens. I hope it still good, i will dig it out.

 

[brin]

That is great news for you ! If it stays muddy anywhere around where the pond was filled in then there is your spring, now you have to stay with it until you find the actual spring source so you can unclog it completely and then how about the spilway ? When the previous owner filled it in what did he do about the spillway ? There should be a dam at one end of the pond and a spillway pipe..keep us posted on your progress...then you need to order fish..

 

[JD hill]

They pushed the dam in to fill and level the pond. If you looked at it now
you would never know a pond was there. I know the ground is muddy,
a kid down the road one day on a 4 wheeler thought he would ride across my land one day taking a short cut and when he hit the area where the pond used
to be the 4 wheeler like to went out of site,lol. They had to get there dad
and his truck to pull it out. I dont know if the ground is just soft there or is
the spring still under there. Its all been filled for 2 years. What would be
the best way to rebuild the pond, i could use a backhoe but dont think it
would do it. There is a man close by who has a dragline that he hires out,
or would a dozer be best? Ive never built a pond. I could use some advice on this. Thanks.

 

[EddieWalker]

Working in wet conditions and dealing with mud is a totally different world then dry dirt. Tracks are allot better then tires, but then when things go bad and you get stuck, it's really bad. Since you said the the ground is soft enough to swallow up a four wheeler, I'd be very hesitant about bringing in a dozer.

How big of an area are you talking about? Is it small enough that an excavator can dig the dirt from a solid location and put it where you need the dam to be built? If you do it this way, you can use a small dozer to spread the soil and an excavator to dig it.

You might also be able to drain, or dry out the soil by just digging a trench through it with a backhoe or small excavatar. If you can get the water out of the soil, or to flow, the soil might dry out enough to be workable.

Wet soil, or mud, is totally worthless for building a dam with. You need a certain amount of moisture in your soil for it to compact, but too much moisture will just make the soild impossible to compact.

We need more information. Size, depth and if you are going to do it yourself or hire it out.

How far are you from Mixon? I did a bathroom remodel there a few months ago.

Eddie

 

[JD hill]

Thanks for the advice, i'm glad you told me about the wet soil would
not work for the dam, because thats what i would have used. They tell
me the deep end was about 16 feet deep. I'm gonna have to think this one
out thats for shure.

 

[radioman]

You still can use the dirt/mud you dig out for dam. You just need to excavate it out and put wet soil on highground and let it sit for a long time and air out. If you are not in a hurry but want to get it started- I would do it that way. Once its dug out, you be able to use your tractor with FEL if you have one and build the dam compacting it as you build it up in layers.

 

[mike69440]

You still can use the dirt/mud you dig out for dam. You just need to excavate it out and put wet soil on highground and let it sit for a long time and air out. If you are not in a hurry but want to get it started- I would do it that way. Once its dug out, you be able to use your tractor with FEL if you have one and build the dam compacting it as you build it up in layers.

Form experience it takes 3-4 weeks with dry weather, otherwise wait at least a season.

I just pulled out another 100 yards yesterday, and will move on to other projects for a while

 

[dawoodwa]

16' depth is pretty strong, don't know how long the dam has to be but I would hire it out.

I don't know about your soil conditions but here in Ga we always put a good solid clay core in the dam. I have done this several times and we always use a trackhoe to core it and begin the fill by pushing dirt in with a dozer, usually a D6 with a 12' blade. We push the minimum amount we have to into the core to get a stable base so we can take a scraper down into the core. We always use good stable clay for the core but any dirt can be used for the slope. I usually put a 3 to 1 slope on the faces which can be a large amount of dirt if you have 16' of depth plus your freeboard. It is also important to consider what type of piping system you put in, the old style standpipe is the easiest to work with but a lot of people are going with syphon systems. The Soil Conservation Service provides free engineering assistance for farm ponds in Ga., the most important service IMO is figuring the correct size for the spillway.