Doing some additional research and I have a question. For the size of pond I'm building, is it still important to build a core trench when constructing the dam? I keep hearing this term and think I understand the concept but not sure on what specifically I should be doing to construct it and what level it is constructed. Is it based upon when you hit clay? As a general understanding of what I'm building the height of dam on the water side will be about 6' and a 1/2 pitch slope. The height on the back side will be approximately 8' with a 1/4 pitch slope possibly less slope. As you can see from the photos it is a fairly small pond (water garden).
Pond/Spring Rehabilitation
- Thread starter Airic
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sld
Veteran Member
If you have some clay to work with I'd just build it up packing it down between layers. Once you get some vegetation going it will be stable.
It's not like you are damming up a fast moving water source. In that case you would have to be more particular about the construction.
It's not like you are damming up a fast moving water source. In that case you would have to be more particular about the construction.
NY_Mr Project
New member
Great Thread, Please keep the Pics Coming.
That water looks so Clear, if you do eventually get fish, you will be able to see them. You should get turtles and frogs and make it a TERRARIUM. Your kids will love that.
That water looks so Clear, if you do eventually get fish, you will be able to see them. You should get turtles and frogs and make it a TERRARIUM. Your kids will love that.
FortClatsop
Silver Member
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- 2006 JD 2305, X540, X324, 314, 316/33 tiller
Very nice. I'm a sucker for a good pond project. Three cheers for cleaning up the garbage dump. It sounds like the pond was your reward. Keep up the good work. Some day I'll post pictures of my slough when it floods the lower field. It just isn't the same as a pond.
czechsonofagun
Elite Member
Great project, keep it coming. Clean up and rebuilt, my favored
I never understood, how people can stand a trash site on their property, not just in mud and former ponds, but some of the old farms I seen are full of stuff just sitting out there, lines of broken trucks, cars and tractors and implements.
I never understood, how people can stand a trash site on their property, not just in mud and former ponds, but some of the old farms I seen are full of stuff just sitting out there, lines of broken trucks, cars and tractors and implements.
Thanks guys, it痴 been a fun project and the clear water continually amazes me as I've not seen the same condition in any other pond. Put 20 something feeder gold fish and a water Lilly in last week for a test on survivability and to satisfy the girls on wanting fish. Hope I don't dig any up. All the goldfish found rocks to hide under and you're lucky if you even see one. Once I put them in, I realized the scale of things and I would need at least 200 to give yourself something to look at. If a goldfish lives, would Kio? Heard fish don't do well with a high Ph but, need to do further research. I've tested and the Ph is around 12 or so, quite high. I'll do a more comprehensive water test but, I'll get to that later.
Removed more top soil last weekend but, the rain has slowed me down a bit. I should have more updated photos after this week end as the weather is to be nice.
As for the garbage, the cleanup has come a long way. Even got my neighbor involved on cleaning up his land as he has been watching me pick up. There is a garbage dump in the far back of his property that is almost all cleaned up now. We cleaned up all the trash and had over 100 tires hauled out. All thats left is a bunch of concrete and rocks that I'll be taking for the pond and other projects and then I'll grade it out for him.
Removed more top soil last weekend but, the rain has slowed me down a bit. I should have more updated photos after this week end as the weather is to be nice.
As for the garbage, the cleanup has come a long way. Even got my neighbor involved on cleaning up his land as he has been watching me pick up. There is a garbage dump in the far back of his property that is almost all cleaned up now. We cleaned up all the trash and had over 100 tires hauled out. All thats left is a bunch of concrete and rocks that I'll be taking for the pond and other projects and then I'll grade it out for him.
Been busy with work and not had time to respond lately. Last week I made some really good progress till I broke the valve stem off my front tire and also been hunting for morels in my yard. Strange thing but the morels came up all over the areas I excavated last year. I知 well over 100 by now and some of the biggest Ive ever seen. Anybody else experience this?
It all has come together much better than expected. Prior week I had excavated all of the top soil from the site. I then dug a 2' deep core trench around the dam and then removed clay around the pond side of this trench so I could get better compaction by driving on it. Once the trench was filled I then started the excavation. Used the frond loader for most of the work and it worked much better than expected when driving into the hole. BH was mostly used for retrieving rocks and a counter weight while driving into and backing out of the hole. I dug to about 7' deep with the buildup of the dam and it is now much deeper than the existing side. Based upon Eddie's comments I wanted most of the pond lower than the spring output so water level will maintain a good level if the spring slows during the summer. Took a bit longer to fill but, in two days the pond was full again and the water output though the drain has not changed from what it was before.
I would say my biggest issue was not planning for the amount of spoils and not putting the top soil far enough away to allow easier work around the pond but I only had to move 3 decent size piles. Total project took 5 days and 20 gal. of diesel.
Next is adding a bit more clay to the top of the dam, finish grading on the back side of the dam, bringing back some top soil, planting grass seed, and setting more concrete chunks and rocks for features and such.
On finishing the dam, what should the height of the dam to be from the water level? I also need some ideas on building a spill way. Ideally I would like the spillway to skim off the pond for the 7-9 months as it is constantly filling and then use the pipe for irrigation or cleaning during the summer so, I'm thinking concrete but need ideas on how it should be constructed.
Strange thing but the morels came up all over the areas I excavated last year. I知 well over 100 by now and some of the biggest Ive ever seen. Anybody else experience this? It all has come together much better than expected. Prior week I had excavated all of the top soil from the site. I then dug a 2' deep core trench around the dam and then removed clay around the pond side of this trench so I could get better compaction by driving on it. Once the trench was filled I then started the excavation. Used the frond loader for most of the work and it worked much better than expected when driving into the hole. BH was mostly used for retrieving rocks and a counter weight while driving into and backing out of the hole. I dug to about 7' deep with the buildup of the dam and it is now much deeper than the existing side. Based upon Eddie's comments I wanted most of the pond lower than the spring output so water level will maintain a good level if the spring slows during the summer. Took a bit longer to fill but, in two days the pond was full again and the water output though the drain has not changed from what it was before.
I would say my biggest issue was not planning for the amount of spoils and not putting the top soil far enough away to allow easier work around the pond but I only had to move 3 decent size piles. Total project took 5 days and 20 gal. of diesel.
Next is adding a bit more clay to the top of the dam, finish grading on the back side of the dam, bringing back some top soil, planting grass seed, and setting more concrete chunks and rocks for features and such.
On finishing the dam, what should the height of the dam to be from the water level? I also need some ideas on building a spill way. Ideally I would like the spillway to skim off the pond for the 7-9 months as it is constantly filling and then use the pipe for irrigation or cleaning during the summer so, I'm thinking concrete but need ideas on how it should be constructed.
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cool thread airic. i have a pond myself that needs some help. if you want answers to your questions, read through eddie's lake marabou (sp?) thread. it is long, but he has links, pics and more than enough explanation to go from dry ground to successful pond. including the core, dam height, spillway, etc.
again cool thread. i wish it'd stop raining here so i could get out and have some fun, er., i mean, get some work done.
again cool thread. i wish it'd stop raining here so i could get out and have some fun, er., i mean, get some work done.
