More Pond, or How To Reduce Flooding

[OkeeDon]

A few folks may have read some of my recent posts in which I remarked on rain, rain and more rain, flooding, and the need for dirt, more dirt and yet more dirt. Now, while our house plans are still in the architect's nest, where he is apparently sitting on them and waiting for them to hatch, is the time to do something about it.

First, a few pictures showing the problem. This one is to the left of my driveway...

 

[OkeeDon]

...and this is to the right, at the same spot.

 

[OkeeDon]

This is at the edge of my existing pond, showing how the pond floods after more heavy rain. This is the area in which I will expand my pond.

Oops, wrong picture. Fixed, now.

 

[DTCOOPER]

well jusding by your location, and those pictures, the first thing Iwould do is acquire some alligator traps.. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Sorry, couldn't resist !
Looks like a neat place.

Daniel /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[OkeeDon]

Here is an area between my duaghter and son-in-law's property, which is next to mine, and my property. The trailer is parked on Amy & Doug's side, while the white trailer in the far background is on my barn pad.

 

[OkeeDon]

This is my existing pond. My house will go on the raised area on the far side. We will be expanding the pond into the area in the foreground and off into the area on the left. We will at least double the size, and possibly triple it. We need LOTS of dirt.

 

[OkeeDon]

This is going to be a twofer-one project. Amy & Doug also have some low areas, although not as bad as mine, and they'd like a larger pond, also. So, we're going to enlarge their pond as well, making it about 1-1/2 times larger than it is, now. Some of the dirt will be spread on their 2-1/2 acres; the rest will be trucked to my 5 acres next door. This is Amy & Doug's pond before we started.

 

[OkeeDon]

We started yesterday. First, the tools arrive -- the dump truck and loader....

 

[OkeeDon]

...and the excavator. Some may remember the huge excavator the contractor brought when he dug the original pond. It's down for repairs, so they started with this much smaller rental unit. Wade Barnhill, the boss, laughed when he saw it pull up on the rental company's trailer -- "I didn't expect a dang Farmall", he said.

But, it will do the job until the big guy is repaired. If the parts come in on time, they may have both excavators on the job at once.

 

[OkeeDon]

They're starting with Doug & Amy's pond. Here are the first cuts. Digging a pond in Florida is not quite the same as it is in most other parts of the country. Here, we just mark off a spot and start digging. The hole will fill with water all on it's own.