Opening up a spring with a track-hoe

[pacerron]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS Ideas and suggestions are appreciated....to assume that I do not appreciate our water assets is un-called for.:ashamed:[/I][/B][/FONT]

Boeing,
There was no assumption stated or even considered by me about your stewardship of the land and natural resources. The URL was offered as a good technical source of the many variables that are involved in your creek going back underground in Virginia strata and leads to solutions to correct it.
Any assumptions are on your part. You asked the forum for help but your comment is not a good stimulus to get much.
Let's get back to Don's project and his photo explanations.
Ron

 

[pacerron]

An unwelcome surprise this morning, apparently when I cut the BH access ramp I uncovered 2 more springs.

Don,
One of those " something goes haywire things" I didn't mentioned. I think the gravel will give you a much better base for the tractor when you use the hoe.
You can probably use some of the ramp gravel in your culverts when you get to that point. It sounds like that hill has been holding a lot of water. I was concerned that when you said the water seepage was slowing down that you might have just hit a pocket and it would dry up in time. You never know about water until a year or so from now.
Good perspective on the pictures.
Ron

 

[txdon]

I'm starting to second guess myself on the culverts. Would one 3' diameter by 6' long be better than 2 to get the 6' length vertically of different diameter. I saw the 3'X6' in town the other day. ??

 

[bindian]

An unwelcome surprise this morning, apparently when I cut the BH access ramp I uncovered 2 more springs. I removed the mud and quickly put down 6 FELs of rock and compacted it. I also made the ramp less steep.

With the culverts nearby the site is ready. But with the temp at 104, I'm taking the rest of the day off. (I still ned to put on the BH.)

It is starting to get exciting, the race will be to put in the culverts and rock before the sides cave in. If successful water should be flowing over the top culvert into the pond.

Don,
That middle photo really shows the slopes well. What were you planning to use the rock for?.........before the bubbling H2O came up?
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

I'm starting to second guess myself on the culverts. Would one 3' diameter by 6' long be better than 2 to get the 6' length vertically of different diameter. I saw the 3'X6' in town the other day. ??

Don,
Yes, less pieces to install and less to worrying about mis aligning.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Bigfoot62]

That just makes me want to do into debt and buy one of those toys!!!!!!

Eddie

Call your local CAT dealer. My cousin owns a construction company. They bought three of the 320D excavators about two years ago.CAT 320D I think they were in the $160,000 range, each. Oh, and be sure to save enough money for fuel. They will burn about 8-10 gallons per hour, depending on how hard you work them.
You called your banker yet?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Don, you can call that doggie "whipper snapper".:laughing:

I didn't see where the water went in your last set of pic's??? Is it flowing under the rock???

 

[pacerron]

I'm starting to second guess myself on the culverts. Would one 3' diameter by 6' long be better than 2 to get the 6' length vertically of different diameter. I saw the 3'X6' in town the other day. ??

Don,
It depends on the cubic feet of volume you want to retain in the vessel.
1- 4' dia culvert 3' high with a 3' dia culvert 3' high stacked even to give 6 ft total would hold about 38 cu ft of volume.
I-3' diameter culvert 6' long would only hold 28 cu'
So you would have 75 gallon more in the 2 pieces.
Brandi is right about 1 less piece to install. I'm not sure why alignment would be critical in what you are doing though.
Getting one 6 foot long piece level when you fill around it might be harder than with short pieces stacked. The final height and volume capacity will depend on the vessel being level.
I'd dream about how I would have to stake the culvert in place to keep it level while back filling and the teeter factor of 6' vs. 3', etc. etc.
Of course I always think I'm building stuff to last forever. ha.
Ron

 

[txdon]

The rock is left over from my driveway paver project. I used it as the base and compacted it and then put sand on top of it, leveled/sloped it then tapped in/set the pavers and then used polymer sand to bind it all together. Well, the first 500, I still have 12,000 to lay after I finish the last 160' of curbing.

Kyle the water is flowing from all sides, I can't really pinpoint a specific spot. Is this how a spring flows?

It seems like the clay has fingers of sand running through it in it and the water is following through the sand fingers, straw size.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

The rock is left over from my driveway paver project. I used it as the base and compacted it and then put sand on top of it, leveled/sloped it then tapped in/set the pavers and then used polymer sand to bind it all together. Well, the first 500, I still have 12,000 to lay after I finish the last 160' of curbing.

Kyle the water is flowing from all sides, I can't really pinpoint a specific spot. Is this how a spring flows?

It seems like the clay has fingers of sand running through it in it and the water is following through the sand fingers, straw size.

I've heard about impermeable layers of clay that act like yours. The watershed collects water on top of the clay and finds a way out where the clay surfaces. Yours maybe totally different than this. Sounds like your having fun except for the heat. It would be so cool if you end up with a clear water trough for whippersnapper to play in and the cows get a drink.

I know some folks that have a ranch over near Nixon Tx. and they have an artesian well. They have it fixed to come out of a 2" ID pipe into a 5' or 6' concrete trough. It comes out a bit warm and is not so refreshing on a hot day except to get the day's dust off of you.