Cost to build a pond??

PineRidge · Jul 14, 2004

There should be plenty of inflow. We'll be collecting 3 seperate runoffs that never run dry due to multiple speings. After some rain, these things really pump out the water.


Eric be careful here as too much is as bad as not enough especially if the runoff carries a lot of silt with it. It will make a pond shallower and shallower as it fills with silt.

My neighbor has a pond that is probably 2 acres in size and he gets so much runoff from the surrounding land that his 10 inch overflow pipe can't handle the excess. Every big rain the excess goes over the top of his dam. Turns out they didn't engineer the emergency spillway correctly to protect the dam. It is just a matter of time before that run-away water will take the entire dam out but he keeps ignoring the problem at hand. Thank heaven my property won't suffer when the dam finally decides to let go.

I'm also wondering about his liability issue since he has been told by more than a few that he needs to make some changes real soon. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

SPIKER · Jul 14, 2004

crawdads are not as bad of a problem as muskrats and wood chucks! the boss/s pond (~5~7 acres) has an island, with a bridge, and there must be 20 holes out there, the son was mowing it other day and chased off a ton of mice & moles, he said the catfish & bass were atttacking them as they tried to swim for shore! lol. (24" + channel cats! and 18"+ bass) I did catch one of the OLD bass and it went about 20~22" it was put in at 16" though back in 97~98 when the pnd was only 1 acre then he dug the back pone ~4 acres and then connected them together and made the island. He paid 5K tof the back pond and 2500.00 for the channel to tie them together, and the ismand built with the dirt removed from the channel. ~25' wide by 140' long and ~6' deep at center after the initial silting in. some photos here at the company web site, http://www.haynncorp.com then click INFO at the top.

Mark M

herdfan · Jul 15, 2004

PineRidge

We're planning on a couple of small silt ponds to help settle out some silt before entering the main runoffs to the pond, so hopefully it will take many years to significantly change the depth of the pond. I'll be sure to make sure about the dam and overflow/runoff too. Especially with liability issues in WV!
/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Eric

herdfan · Jul 15, 2004

( chased off a ton of mice & moles, he said the catfish & bass were atttacking them as they tried to swim for shore! )

You could probably sell videos of that! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

That pond sounds interesting. I couldn't find the pics of it on your company's webpage. Could you post a direct link?

Thanks

MarkV · Jul 16, 2004

Be sure and check on any regulations that have to be followed before you set the final plan. Pineridge’s neighbor’s pond reminded me of some stories I heard when we were buying our place that has a 5 acre pond. In Georgia a private community pond of some size lost its dam and did a great deal of property damage down stream some years back. The government thought that a fine reason to create a new agency to inspect and regulate private dams. This agency now has the power to decide that your dam is a hazard and will require you to drain the pond until the dam is brought up to their specifications. That seems fine on the surface and a valid service to those down stream of the dam to protect their property. Where the problem arises, from what local pond management people tell me, are the specifications they require for rebuilding are so stringent that the Hoover dam might not make it. This has left numbers of land owners with rather unattractive mud holes in their back yard or an unbelievably expensive dam rebuild in their future. You can imagine what that does to property value.

MarkV

herdfan · Jul 19, 2004

Well, I finally got a quote.
Only problem, it's not from my builder!! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
He's known of this pond deal for over 2 months and when I asked for a quote (yet again) today, he said it would be "a couple of days."

Anyway, my wife called around and found an excavation contractor who has built several ponds and who's brother also conveniently works for the state DNR working with aquaculture and building ponds. This fellow came out Saturday to look around, then returned Sunday to flag the area and take measurements and elevations. He comes up with a quote today (Monday) (A little better turn-around than 2+ months).

He calculated 12000 cubic yards. Cost to build pond, haul the fill, and grade it into the new house site is $18,000. He said he'd use an excavator, dozer, and 2 dump trucks and it would take around 3 weeks to complete. He can start in 2-3 days as he is in between jobs.

The contract is a fixed amount for the job and he is to get me a copy of the contract and a list of references.

My builder is a nice guy, but is painfully slow. He seems to only get motivated when I complain. I'm trying not to pull out a few RD Mercer lines, but my resistance is beginning to fail /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

How's this deal sound? As always, any input is greatly appreciated!

MMM · Jul 19, 2004

If you have livestock, the USDA will foot 50% of the costs. I had a 20' deep by 250' wide ravine dammed up creating about 2acre pond(they call it a sediment basin). Mine was 75% Gov funded due to erosion control under EQUIP program.

Larry_Van_Horn · Jul 19, 2004

How deep is it going to be? What is the final size? Do you need that much material moved to the house location? Some design considerations might save you some $$s. I am guessing that much of the cost is involved in moving the material with the trucks. I would back into this by figuring how much material you need at the homesite, then backing into moving just that much. You can have deeper areas in the pond as well as submerged peninsulas that are covered by only 5 feet of water. Could save some $$s.
Larry

herdfan · Jul 20, 2004

MMM

I think time will be an issue with trying to get some gov't funding. We spent so much time waiting on our gen. comtractor and now we have to begin getting the fill into place within the next couple of weeks. It's kinda frustrating, because we could have been researching that a bit more instead of relying on the contractor to feed us the info we need. Of course, without this forum, we would probably still be in the dark!

herdfan · Jul 20, 2004

Thanks for the tip, Larry.
I did some rough figuring and that is a huge amount of material generated! We do need a lot of fill, but if my #'s are correct, we won't need that much.
There does need to be extra material for the dam and a berm along the sides that drop down towards the edge of the property. Also, I figure the more dirt, the easier the grade will be going up to the house and the pond, so that should help everything blend into the topography and look more natural.
We're supposed to get some more info this evening.