Creating a Lake

[riprap]

Here is a pretty good (and pictoral) paper on building revetments (erosion protection) that anyone interested may want to look at:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/hec11SI.pdf


Here is a nice illustrated document on building and designing drainage features (roadway crossings, culverts, ditches, calculating flow based on drainage area, channel size, etc.)
CHAPTER 4 DRAINAGE DESIGN

Eddie, depending on how well you think what you have is working, it may not be too hard to use your equipment to scrape out what you have, lay the fabric and replace the material, it is quite amazing to see the difference in performance between say 10" of 6-12" broken concrete or limestone with or without fabric. Generally, using fabric and hand placing riprap should reduce the amount of material for a permanent solution by half or more

For those folks who would like in the end to have a natural look with grass in the channel - A good way to achieve it with low risk of major damage before it is established is to start with a fabric/minimal stone covering and let the sod establish between/through the stones - in time the silt will fill and form a fairly green area - this could be sped up with the addition of a light soil cover.

These filter fabrics are mostly porous enough that grass can grow/roots can penetrate from the top down with minimal soil cover which makes a very erosion resistant sod.

 

[EddieWalker]

riprap,

Where were you two months ago? hahaha just kidding.

Thanks for the links. I had no idea that anybody could write 198 pages on riprap. From your name and your knowledge, I'm guessing this is something you have some experience in!!!

I saw in chapter 2.4 "Grouted Rock," which looks like what I've been doing. Using large, old chuncks of concrete and grouting them together with readi mix concrete.

Those flow charts are way over my head. I gotta wonder how much schooling and how many degrees a guy has to have to be able to make sense of all that. I've based mine on the worse method available, I guessed with a few knowns. How many acres in my watershed, how much rain I can expect and how much water that will be when it gets to the culvert. Not very scientific, but then most contractors just glance at a piece of land and know what sized culvert to use. hahaha

I've been doing some measureing and have found a way to get another ten acres of watershed. It will take some digging and building up of some roads more than I had planned on, but the results will be allot more water to the lake!!

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[riprap]

riprap,

Where were you two months ago? hahaha just kidding.

Hate to say it, but I was right here following your progress for a year or more...sorry


For areas you have a fresh start on, I think you will find the loose stone/ fabric approach much less work than grouting and more successful. You have a tough situation since it looks like you go from very dry to very wet and have quite a bit of surface clay that wont absorb downpurs quickly nor establish strong sod quickly.

In this area, grouted stone revetments don't last (although are fairly common) since between settling and freeze thaw cycles gaps open up and allow the water to undermine the pieces.

I think you are being too modest in describing your approach. The methodology is just as you describe, and there is always a fair amount of guesswork involved at each step

- a good topo to get watershed
- estimate absorbtion coefficient - look around, compare to description of soil types in table - guess and decide how conservative you want to be.
- decide how big a storm to deal with based on how bad failure might be
-decide on how big a channel and grade you can do.
-get flow rate/water level fom calculation
-flow rate determines stone size req'd, level determines coverage area

then you just make it bigger, wider, flatter and use bigger rock anyway !

The best thing you have going for you is you are on site and see what is happening and will take action. Most erosion problems don't happen all at once, so you can have a chance to work up to a good permanent solution.

I see alot of folks who seem satisfied with partial solutions that need to be worked on continuously. There are plenty of contractors putting in work that they are essentially betting will last long enough that they won't be blamed when a big storm knocks it out. With a good design, it is just alot less work and cost to do it once and forget it.

 

[bmac]

Eddie,

I don't want to divert the discussion away from the lake, Bermuda grass or erosion control, but I've been wondering... Now that the lake is essentially done, what is the next big project in the development of the RV Park? What is your timetable for getting the park ready and opened for buisness? Are you markedly ahead of or behind your original schedule?

BTW, the lake looks fantastic!!

 

[EddieWalker]

riprap,

Thanks for the good advice. I hope you don't mind, but I posted your links on the PondBoss website for those guys to read also. Lots of good information there!!!

bmac,

No worries about highacking the thread, it's been all over the place, but somehow ends back on topic. hahaha

Right now I'm short on cash and working more jobs again. I was busy before the holidays getting homes ready for family get togethers, but right now it's kind of slow. I'm gonna start advertising again. oh well.

My current project is cleaning up all the trees that I've taken out over the last six months. I've got quite a mess on my hands and it's not moving along very quickly in getting them to the burn pile. I have a cylinder leaking on the backhoe and it's apart. Tomorrow I'll pick up the seals and should have it back together fairly quickly. It's not a very big cylinder, but it sure does leak lots of fluid!!!! I have the steel and materials for two more street lights. I'll update my Entrance thread when I put them in. I've also figured out I made a mistake on my storage area along the house. I'm gonna make some changes and clean up a mess that's out of control. It's turned into an area that things are getting piled on top of each other and I can no longer get a few things that I want from there. The biggest problem are the 4x8 sheets of OSB and plywood that I have burried under scaps of steel, my generator a trailer and my water pump.

My timeline on the RV Park is dependent on when I finish all the clearing and dirt work. I'm saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in doing it all myself, but it's taking me years to get anywhere. When that's done, I'll need the loan to start building. My goal is to have it build in six months after the loan clears. I'll get a 12 month loan to cover my butt and do all I can to get done earlier.

Besides, don't you want some 10 pound bass in the lake when you come out here for the Grand Opening? If I finish too soon, the bass will only be a pound or two. hahahaha

Thanks for asking,
Eddie

 

[bmac]

Right now I'm short on cash and working more jobs again. I was busy before the holidays getting homes ready for family get togethers, but right now it's kind of slow. I'm gonna start advertising again. oh well.

Eddie

Eddie,

This part of your reply addressed something I've been silently curious about since I first read about about your RV project. All this time, I thought you were independently wealthy. I could never understand how you could get so much done on your projects and be as active on TBN as your are. Now, I learn that you also have other work on the side to finance this RV park adventure. How many hours do you have in a day in Texas?

Eddie, in addition to being a highly skilled craftsman, a land-use visionary, a tireless TBN contributor, and a good husband/father, (oh yeah, and a superb diesel mechanic) you must also be the champion of time management. I salute you. You are an amazing individual.

But, I must say, you kind of burst my bubble when you said you also do work-for-pay on the side. I kinda of enjoyed thinking that you were an eccentric millionaire.

 

[EddieWalker]

I kinda of enjoyed thinking that you were an eccentric millionaire.

bmac,

Thank you for the kind words. You made us laugh with what you said. Sure would be nice if it was all true, but at least it sounds nice and gives me something to strive for.

You got eccentric part about me right, too bad I wasn't the millionaire part.

Eddie

 

[CurlyDave]

bmac,
You got eccentric part about me right, too bad I wasn't the millionaire part.

Eddie:

When you get that RV Park finished you will be a self-made millionaire. I have no idea how much something like that would be worth in Texas, but out here on the left coast, it would be $5-10 million.

To me, a self-made millionaire is a lot more impressive than inheriting it.

But you knew finishing the park would make you a millionaire when you started...

 

[john_bud]

Eddie,

{snip}
How many hours do you have in a day in Texas?
{snip}

It's not the number of hours that are different, but they are BIGGER down in Texas ! Must be 2-300 minutes to the hour down there.

jb

 

[patrick_g]

Eddie and HaveBlue, You guys figured me out. I prefer to mow my grass with moderately bioengineered grass conversion units, mostly black angus.

If I had to mow it all myself all the time I would be either fertilizing with salt to ****** growth or looking for something that was drought tollerant and short.

Bermuda is almost a religious issue with some cattlemen even when it is NOT a good business decision. When you guys think drought tollerance I suppose you think of the grass not dieing or maybe even staying green. When I think drought tollerance I am thinking of something that can produce some biomass under limited moisture conditions as the little mowin' machines tend to chew on it NOT just look at it!

Our drought has sent hay prices soaring. Decent round bales are going for $60 and up, with $80 or more for really decent stuff. Old (2-3 year old or older not well preserved crap is going for $40 and up.) Luckily I have enough of my own hay, which is rich in arrow leaf clover in the barn to make it till spring but a dry spring will NOT BE GOOD NEWS. I have never purchased hay and if I had to buy at these gouging prices I'd be in trouble.

My perspective is that grass is a cheap form of hay that I don't have to pay to have baled or take the time to put out for the stock.

Regarding the shaded areas. There are grasses that do way better than bermuda in tree shade. I would sow some because it does look better than just leaves and mud and is better if you wqant to get in the shade ona hot day for a lunch or whatever. There are various varieties avail at Wal-Mart etc. Don't worry about it getting wawy from the shade and taking over from centipede or bermuda. It won't. They can't compete with those in the full sun.

Pat

 

[Bird]

Eddie, we've all talked a great deal about what facilities you should have in your RV park, but another thing I assume you are planning is an Internet website. I guess a website is becoming almost mandatory for any business of any size. I just learned that the I-35 RV Park now has a website. The bottom two lines about RV repairs and specialist on site are about my brother. One brother lives alone in a motorhome there year round and does a good business, both in the park and in the surrounding area. The other brother, who used to be in that business, and his wife live there during the winter in a fifth-wheel and pull the fifth-wheel to Ellensburg, WA, for the summer. Of course during the winter, he helps a bit with the RV repairs. Those two are always either working on RVs or golfing.

 

[ding2520]

Eddie, is the lake finished? If so, do you have any updated photos? All I can say is "WOW" what a project!

 

[EddieWalker]

Pat,

Sorry, I never ment to compare grass for waling on and covering my dam with grass to raise livestock with. There will never be any livestock on the dam, nor anywhere near it. I just want it to be nice looking and green for most of the year. The cheaper and easier to maintain, the better. hahaha

Bird,

A few years ago when I filed for the LLC with the State of Texas, I bought the rights to wildkingdomrvpark.com

I'm not hosting it or doing anything with it, but when I get some idea of an opening date, then I'll probably start a thread on the merits of creating my own site, which software to use, versus hiring it out and finding some recomendations on who to use.

The fear I have with an onsight mechanic is how his service will reflect on the Park. If he does one 99 repairs perfecty, but messes up on one, that's all I'll hear about. Word of mouth is such a powerful resource in this that I'm afraid the liability of a bad repair, or an unhappy client will cost me more in lost revenue than it would provide.

I'm leaning towards haveing a list of local mechanics available to guests and letting them decide. Maybe even let them leave comments on how it worked out for them. Or just have a Yellow Pages available for them and put the entire issue on there heads.

As you know, my parents have an RV, and they are constant headaches. It's usually something small and annoying, but whatever it is, it's a problem and if anybody gets involved with trying to solve that problem and fails, then they become part of the problem too.

Ding,

Nothing new. The lake is down an inch and I'm not sure why that is. I'm assuming it's normal evaporation, but there is always the fear of a leak. One inch over 4 acres is allot of water. It's also been several weeks since we had any real rain and it's too new for me to be able to understand what's going on.

I did see a wild hog walk by it yesterday at 2pm while I was dragging a tree to my burn pile. That was a suprise!!!

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[k6dyc]

... I bought the rights to wildkingdomrvpark.com I'm not hosting it or doing anything with it, but when I get some idea of an opening date, then I'll probably start a thread...

Great! I'll then be able to pay back some of the insightful help I've received from you and others. I've been in the web/online industry since '82 and would love to participate in the online aspect of your park. Your domain expires in June of 2011 so you better get with it!

 

[Bird]

Word of mouth is such a powerful resource

Yep, it really is, and it works both ways. I can understand your concern and if you had someone on site, I think I'd want to be sure I had some kind of disclaimer if I were you. However, word of mouth brings people, even from out-of-state, who come to the I-35 RV Park just so my brother can work on their RV, and of course he guarantees his work. So the owners of the park have been happy with the arrangement for several years.

The Irving View RV Park on North Beltline Road in Irving has signs everywhere advertising their RV repair service. Unless something's changed recently, a woman manages the park and her husband is in the RV repair business, both on site and off site. He has a van for a shop, while my brother has a pickup with tool boxes and ladder rack.

So, while I think you're right in being concerned about any liability or negative word of mouth publicity, a park with RV service will draw business just for that purpose that you'll miss out on. And the fact is that I don't know which way would gain or lose the most business.

 

[john_bud]

Nothing new. The lake is down an inch and I'm not sure why that is. I'm assuming it's normal evaporation, but there is always the fear of a leak. One inch over 4 acres is allot of water. It's also been several weeks since we had any real rain and it's too new for me to be able to understand what's going on.
Thanks,
Eddie

Eddie,

Here's a simple way to either put your fears to rest or to give you sleepless nights!

Get a 5 gal bucket and weight it down with rocks. Put it in the pond so about 3/4 of it is in the water. Fill the bucket with water to the level of the pond. Mark the level on both sides of the bucket with the date. That way you can compare bucket loss and pond loss. Check it every couple of days. If the water loss is 100% from evaporation, the bucket will be down the exact same amount.


jb

 

[Renze]

Eddie,

I take your water level is elevated above the original soil level. So the chance is big that the weight of the water compresses the soil below, deepening the bottom of the lake.

Over here in Holland, they build roads through bog areas by trucking in thousands of loads of dirt and make a dam over the bog. Within a few years, the dirt pushes the boggy soil away and sinks to solid ground. this is a much more efficient way, because if they dug a foundation in the bog, the bog will close the gap in a matter of days, even before they have the chance to backfill with dirt.

 

[bmac]

However, word of mouth brings people, even from out-of-state, who come to the I-35 RV Park just so my brother can work on their RV, and of course he guarantees his work. So the owners of the park have been happy with the arrangement for several years.

So, Eddie, it seems to me that the solution is for you to hire Bird's brother as your on-site mechanic. This provides service to your guests by someone who you could rely on to do good work. And, it diverts a lot of folks from the I-35 park to your place as they seek the services of this great mechanic. Hopefully, they would stay a few nights at your place in the process. You just have to make him an offer he can't refuse.

 

[Bird]

You just have to make him an offer he can't refuse

I don't think my brother intends to go anywhere as long as he's working. Now Eddie's place is close to an Interstate Highway, but I don't know just how much RV traffic and what type of RV traffic he'll get. Since I-35 is a major route from Mexico to Canada, across the USA, it carries a lot of snowbirds back and forth in the Spring and Fall. Eddie's area may have just as many regulars going back and forth, but I don't know that to be a fact. I do know there's a lot of RV traffic on that road; just don't know where the majority of them are coming from or going to.

 

[ronjhall]

On our way down to Txdon's place last fall. We drove past Eddie's place. Did not even notice it. He needs a sign. Now that I know where it is. I don't know how I missed it. We picked the route because it took us off the main highway and traffic. I do not think Eddie will have any problems attracting people to his place . Easy on/off location.