1 Ton Boulders . . will they cause chaos?

[lovesgirl]

Hubby and I started building a pond last May. It is about 35 feet wide by 45 feet long and about 4 feet deep at deepest point. We have dirt shelves of various widths around the inside edge. We had to build up a berm around the edge of the pond to get it a little deeper becasue we couldn't dig deeper. Well dear hubby has bought 8 tons of stones. Some of them are as large as 5 feet long by 3 feet wide and 10 inches in thickness. Some could be over 1 ton a piece. I am worried about if this weight is too much to put these around the sides of the pond and near the bio box (made of rail road timbers). He thinks he should put sand in woven polypropylene bags and use them to put these biggies on top of so it will sort of cushion it so the big ones won't puncture the liner. Are we headed for trouble? or will this work? I really appreciate your advice as these are getting delivered this week! LOL

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Answered in your other thread.
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/are-sand-bags-safe-for-fish-and-koi.18787/

 

[sissy]

welcome and hope you are both in shape if not you will be .If the stones are clean then good but if they are dirty not so good .The bags will degrade .I would use a pice of extra 45 mil liner under them or a piece of the underlayment under each one .You are not far from me

 

[lovesgirl]

welcome and hope you are both in shape if not you will be .If the stones are clean then good but if they are dirty not so good .The bags will degrade .I would use a pice of extra 45 mil liner under them or a piece of the underlayment under each one .You are not far from me

Thank you for the advice boy this thing really whooped our butts starting last year and still is LOL

 

[cas]

Wow - nice pond! I know some people have put another piece of liner under their large rocks, but I don't think they were nearly as big as yours are going to be.

 

[sissy]

Right where the fence is was where those bags of sand were placed .I had to put them there to keep the property from washing away

 

[morewater]

It's not so much the actual weight of the boulders that's the issue, but rather the edges of the stone (rounded vs. sharp) and how you plan to actually place them into the pond. Ideally, they would be lowered by backhoe using a stone clamp for precise placement. As stated, just put a couple thicknesses of old liner under each stone prior to placement. I'm assuming that you're talking about using 1-2man armour stone, or similar?

Barring the use of a backhoe, large stones can be split and then "reassembled" in place. Splitting is relatively easy using a hammer drill and expansion (feather and wedge) spikes. Sometimes it's easier to get the big suckers into manageable pieces and then piece them together again. The "crack" will appear natural.

As with all pond edges, it is advisable to have the pond "edge" as part of the pond (ie. in the water), with the liner brought up behind the stone "edge". This allows for a more natural appearance with the stone edge being submersed. You shouldn't be able to see liner anywhere.

 

[MitchM]

...Some could be over 1 ton a piece. I am worried about if this weight is too much to put these around the sides of the pond and near the bio box (made of rail road timbers). ...

Are those railroad timbers soaked in creosote?

.

 

[morewater]

Are those railroad timbers soaked in creosote?

I was just going to ask that, Mitch. Shouldn't make a whole bunch of difference if it's EPDM lined, though.

 

[MitchM]

Right, it wouldn't be a good thing if the creosote found a pathway into the pond plus if there's a vegetable garden or well nearby....
That would be worse.

.

 

[sissy]

railroad or landscape timbers ?some people call landscape timbers that

 

[peter hillman]

Nice pond!

 

[addy1]

Very nice pond! I love huge rocks,