In April I posted about our second spillway failure. These both occurred during the Spring snow melt. I contacted Keith at Pond Dam Piping, and he recommended I call Bill May from Atlanta. Last Tuesday Bill came to New York to investigate our problem. I was very impressed with his professionalism and knowledge, and don't mind spending the money to get this done right once and for all. After determining our watershed (665 acres), we've decided to install a concrete spillway, and almost double the pond size by relocating the culvert. We interviewed 3 contractors and are waiting for their bids, lined up a concrete contractor, and decided on the shape for the new part of the pond. My paint skills are lacking, so the picture doesn't do it justice. We'll be starting work on either the 9th or the 16th. Can't wait to do this!

That's a pretty big increase in size! The area looks like it was made for it. How deep is/will the pond be? Are you planning on a bridge over the narrows to access the building on the right?

What are the plans for the excavated dirt?

Looks like a really beautiful pond. How big will it be with the expansion?

The current depth of the pond is 8 - 10 feet deep. The new area will be 4 - 5 feet. We're looking at about 1500 yards of spoils. Plans are to dig a couple holes (good clay everywhere) and raise the spillway, fill low areas, etc. I'm raising the water level a foot and then working the edges with a dozer to make it mowable (is that a word?) to the edge. The water will be 8 inches lower than the bank. The culvert will be moved upstream above the new pond area to give access to my building.

It'll be a little over 1/2 an acre. Good thing my wife enjoys mowing and recently retired....we're increasing the lawn size substantially!

you must have some serious water coming through your spillway. The one that failed looked pretty good.

The first year the water worked around the right side, the opposite side this Spring. Very frustrating!

Tom, good luck with your pond work, I'm sure you'll be happy when you get the project finished.

Well, the work starts this coming week. Bill from Atlanta flew in today, equipment being delivered tomorrow, digging starting on Tuesday. I'll take plenty of pictures and post them as we go if you guys would like to watch our progress.

We would!

Yes we would.

Oh yes we would.

Are you kidding?!?!



We LOVE Tonka Toys in action!!!!!!!

I had a pretty good idea you guys would like to watch the project...
The day started with working the banks of the existing pond to make them mowable, then started excavating the new area. It looks like that is going to take some time since we'll be moving a lot of dirt to fill in low areas in the area. We had a track dump truck delivered this evening, so tomorrows pics will include that. I had some fun driving it around and getting used to it. Unfortunately, I have to work tomorrow, but should be able to take Thu and Fri off. If all goes well, we'll be pouring the concrete for the spillway on Friday. We've been blessed with good weather for the week...that was a big worry.

We've drained the pond enough where you can see one of the three beds in the pond. It looks to me like it's been used.


Cut back banks


The siphon....


And a start on the new area.....

Great pics Tom, good luck with the pond work, we'll be watching.

Thanks for the pictures. It looks you are having fun!!!!

Go ODT!

Unfortunately I had to work all day, so I asked my wife to snap a few pictures. Not much new to report....still digging the new area. The track dump truck was delivered last night, andI'm able to take the next two days off, so I'll be driving it
Bill (from Georgia) suggested when we relocate the culvert to the inlet side of the new part of the pond, we place it about 4 feet off the creek bottom. This will serve two purposes, 1st, it will help prevent sediment from being washed down the creek bed into the pond, 2nd, it will give us yet another pond behind it. How can I argue with that logic? It will mean an extra day or day and a half of excavator work as we clear the soil behind it of sod, and do a little shaping. It's in a small ravine, so we won't have to do too much digging. The local contractor on the excavator is doing a good job, and is showing his excellent operating skills. I just wish his machine was bigger. More pics tomorrow.

Not a whole lot of news to report tonight....still plugging along. We diverted the stream into part of the new side of the pond to help keep the rest of it dry. We're a little behind schedule and won't be pouring concrete until Monday morning now.

Good stuff! Keep it coming...

What is the name of that little dirt buggy.

It's called a Morooka, and it works great in wet areas. It carries about 10 yards. I've spent the last couple days on it, and feel like I should enlist in the Army as a tank driver.

Today was a big day....the spillway was poured today. It took 41 yards of concrete, that includes a keyway. Also today, we removed the inlet culvert and moved it to the new position. Hopefully tomorrow we can wrap the project up, with the exception of seeding.

Great looking spillway!

That, Sir, is an impressive looking and sized project.