Some of you may remember my pond dilemma last year acmoc.phpwebhosting.com/viewtopic.php?t=7384&highlight=

Well that pond is thankfully finished (except spreading clay on the banks)





I'm now ready to move on to the 1 acre pond:



The equipment I'll be using:

D6C
225
Ford 575D TLB
18 Ton tandem dump truck

The orange gradient lines on that picture represent 18 ft depth.

Do I need to dig this pond in a stepped fashion, or just excavate to 18 ft deep from grade?

Any advice from excavation experts is greatly appreciated.

My main concern is leaving a steep bank at the end of a work day and some neighbor kid falling down it and me getting sued...

I'd have to do a step excavation in order to avoid that, and that's more fuel, pushing with the dozer, etc...

Where do I start digging?

Well, come Saturday, i'll just pick a spot and start digging, see how it goes, lol...

I have an excavation book, but did not find it helpful for ponds...

Hi ETD,
Making good progress there. Don't know what happened to all the "diggers" on this site.......seems like you've become the expert:D
Sorry I can't help........until it breaks down:rolleyes:

Rope off the area with the orange construction fence if you are worried about kids, animals, or pets falling into the hole. In southeastern PA, we have to store our equipment in fenced in compounds on jobsites when not in use to prevent kids from getting hurt on the equipment- even though they would be tresspassing!

"Catmatt" wrote:

Rope off the area with the orange construction fence if you are worried about kids, animals, or pets falling into the hole. In southeastern PA, we have to store our equipment in fenced in compounds on jobsites when not in use to prevent kids from getting hurt on the equipment- even though they would be tresspassing!

When I talked to my insurance agent, he said no matter how many signs I put up, no matter how much fencing, If a kid 9 years old or younger gets hurt on my property (while trespassing), I am liable, and I will be sued, guaranteed... That has me worried...

I'll do my best not to leave any steep cliffs while I dig this next one... That wasn't the case with the first pond as I pushed most of it out with the dozer, this one is going to be pure CAT 225 action...

Already I had to kick 5 kids out of the small pond, they were swimming in it one day. The next day I noticed my drivers seat in my dump truck had a 1/2" layer of mud smeared on it and a bee bee gun shot in the windshield of my backhoe in retaliation for telling them not to trespass...

No matter how many signs, you're always one too few.... No matter how high and strong the fence, it wasn't high or strong enough. If it were me.... I'd probably be too lazy to put up the orange fence. You have to proceed in a way that makes you comfortable.... No idea how to dig the thing...

Rodney

That's what insurance is for. Before I ever threw a bucket of dirt I would have at least $1,000,000 liability, preferably more even if you never leave your property. Forget about the personal injury issue, if you hit a phone line, gas line, or heaven forbid a fiber optic, you might as well plan on living in a van down by the river, those guys play for keeps. Keep that in mind if you ever want to go out and do any work for hire.

If 'ya got so many signs & ropes & ribbons & fences put up....so many that it's a maze to get through...a real chore for 'em to get to something to fall off of, an absolute challenge for those little curious mischievous tots to hurt themselves......
something'll still jump up & bite you!
Something like..."Well 'ya should've had someone on duty 24/7 to read the signs to the young tots that can't read!"
Then next it'll be something like "Ya should've also had someone on duty 24/7 to speak all the different languages in the world today...just in case one of those little tots happens to be from some oddball, uncommon, unheard of foreign country. And just happens to speak only that same oddball uncommon language!"

Some little tot with a skinned toe, or splinter in his butt....along with his lawyer might have 'ya living in a van down by the river......

For thoughts.....If you're building the pond for fish or ducks.....well there's Safeway's fish & shrimp section.
Ducks.....well I don't know on that one....the zoo?
If the pond is for scenery & relaxation & R&R.......maybe sell the pond & move to the Caribbean...

sighhhhh.....

I grew up digging ponds & lakes and still do it and all I can say is that no 2 are alike. Ground conditions can change from one end to another. If you can reach it all from the top then do it. Dig a sump hole where you might put a pump for water and see how it goes as far as material and how much water is in it come the next morning. Remember...good on top means bad on the bottom and bad on top...good bottom..usually but not always.

Right now I'm working for a outfit and we're trying to finish the bottom of a 15 acre lake. 2' clay liner on the bottom & slopes up to the saftey edge. We have 15-20 pieces of equipment working on it..Excavators, off-road trucks, pans, finish dozers, big dozer, compactors, graders but we keep getting at least 4" of rain every week so it's slooow going. No grade stakes just 2 finish dozers equipped with GPS that get out of whack every once & awhile makes work interesting to say the least.

Craneman , if you ever get achance to take some pictures , I would be interested in seeing a 15 acre lake being constructed with the equipment you
desribed . thanks chas