Pond and pad construction

[CajunRider]

I am digging a 250ftx150ftx8ft pond and using the dirt to build a 225ftx160ft housepad, and 1100ftx15ft driveway. We first planned to use a huge tractor with a 30 yd3 dirt pan but couldn't fit him in our schedule. Now we are using a track hoe and dump trucks combo to do the work. I'll be posting some pictures of the trackhoe, dump truck, and the Case 65C dozer at work as I get them.

First we stripped some top soil off the pond site and moved it to south area in front of the house pad.

 

[CajunRider]

Then we digged a small hole and allowed the surrounding standing water to drain into it. This kept the small amount of water from poor drainage from muddying up our work area.

 

[have_blue]

CJR,

I am also building a pond in Cajun Country. It's a real challenge. Are you renting the track hoe and dumps, own them, or have "friends"? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

My project is about 40% finished, and I may hire or rent a track hoe and dump to finish the last 2-3 feet of depth. I'm not looking forward to getting prices. Last time I checked, it was $1 per yard. Wonder if cats have any collateral value? How about grand children? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[CajunRider]

With my work load I couldn't do the work myself. Had to contract it all out.

Here's the track hoe working with 2 dump trucks.

 

[CajunRider]

Here is the Case 65C dozer at work building the north side of the house pad.

 

[CajunRider]

Track hoe operator is digging the next row. Notice that he left a small berm at the bottom to keep the water in the previous row. This allowed him to dig the next row just as deep or deeper than the first row without having to fight with the mud or to pump the water out.

 

[CajunRider]

Middle of day 2 and we have built a pad 160ftx40ftx6ftH. Final dimension for the pad will be 160ftx225ftx6ft so quite a way to go yet. The Case dozer looks good working on the dirt pad.

 

[OkeeDon]

have_blue, about 1-1/2 years ago, my contractor charged me $2 per cubic yard to dig the pond, truck the spoil to the pads for house and barn and driveway (all within my property, 280' x 780'), knock it down and compact it. He handled about 2,200 cubic yards; the pond is about 110' x 125', or about 1/3 the size of CajunRider's. When he (the contractor) finished the job, he said he was going up to $3/cy. With the way fuel prices are going, I wouldn't be surprised if he has increased it again.

 

[PineRidge]

From the looks of things your pond is going to be full of water even before you get it finished.

Where is all the water coming from? Is that just a naturally low, wet area or is there a spring involved?

 

[CajunRider]

The area is low. Hence the need to dig the pond and use the dirt to build the pad. It takes experience from the operator to be able to dig and manage the water by building little dikes on the pond bottom. Inexperienced operator will have to install a pump and pump the water out while digging. The dikes also make fantastic underwater structures that the fish love to hang around. The pond digger told me to keep a chart of all the little dikes so I'll know where to cast when trying to catch fish later.

It's now day 3 and in some spot I have 2ft of water. It's pretty blue and clear just like swimming pool water. The old track hoe broke down. My pond digger is bringing in a new Hyundai track hoe in the morning.