In Trouble with Excavation

[morewater]

Nine feet deep?

Are you going to put in a sub-basement as well?

Why nine feet?

I'm guessing from the Country location that you're not concerned with such silliness as Fall Protection legislation, excavation shoring requirements, permits, WWSB, engineering advice, soil studies, etc.?

You're not digging straight down, I would hope.

 

[Nepen]

I have a lot of rocks in clay soil. I had to pick them up by hands then I spray water on the ground and put the liner down and walk all over them, if there's a bump i try to push the bump into the soil (clay got soft when wet, so the rock went into it easily). But I do not have under layer, since you do I dont think you need to worry about small rocks, but still have to pick up the big rocks.

 

[WaterLilly]

Timothy, what are you getting suspicious about? What kind of an illegal activity can be done in a pond?

I talked to couple people from the excavation company. I told them i was concerned about the wall collapsing later. They said , it took their 10 hours to dig a simple pool and these rocks are impossible to break. So even if i use a cannonball it is not gonna collapse. That was a relief.

After seeing your worries, i stopped digging at 7-8 ft(some parts 7 , some parts 8 ) . Now what worries me is that 2 sides of the ponds are straigtly going down to 7-8 ft. Is liner gonna work fine here?

Why 9 feet? Because the species i will keep are not very much cold resistant. I don't want to take chances. I had a 3 ft deep concrete pond before and i had fish kills 3 times. Plus, i want to do swimming in this pond. One of the reasons why it goes straight down.

 

[pecan]

I don't know why, but that made me LOL! Nine feet deep? Not a good idea.

I was thinking because bodies don't keep long in this heat 9' is a great depth to conceal a body under a lined pond.

 

[Timothy]

Timothy, what are you getting suspicious about? What kind of an illegal activity can be done in a pond?
.......................

Ty, I don't know anyone that would start a major project like you apparently have started without doing some homework first. In the very beginning you posted a couple of photos one of which had a piece of equipment without a bucket on it. I also wonder why you bring up the legal question.
There are a lot of friendly, helpful people on this site that are always willing to help someone with a pond issue. The ones that have responded to you have done so out of kindness and concern.
You mention keeping fish, swimming, and the liner. Nothing about filters, pumps, chemicals, piping, drainage, and the host of other things that comprise a successful pond, some of which should be addressed before the hole is even opened.
Now, consider the responses you have already received and if you are genuinely interested in the answers do them the kindness of acknowledging them instead of running off because this project must be done immediately.
Asking for help from half way around the world, then not having time to read let alone act on the responses seems counter- productive to me.
Good luck with your pond, I hope it turns out to your satisfaction.
(BTW, there is a standing joke around here about burying bodies under pond liners.)

 

[peter hillman]

My neighbors pond, just under 6', he's added more rebar since this pic.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Is that bender board that he is using? That will eventually rot! Then he will have trouble with the rebar damaging the liner especially on the waterfall.

 

[RobAmy]

My neighbors pond, just under 6', he's added more rebar since this pic.View attachment 94049View attachment 94047 View attachment 94048

He might want to replace that board with cement board, then do make a 1/4" one that bends pretty well and use 1/2" for the rest. I use it all the time for masonry projects. I agree with Meyer on the wood

 

[WaterLilly]

Peter thanks man. Great idea. I am not worried about the wall collapsing anymore though.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

He might want to replace that board with cement board, then do make a 1/4" one that bends pretty well and use 1/2" for the rest. I use it all the time for masonry projects. I agree with Meyer on the wood

It may be my bad eyesight again but that doesn't look like concrete but rather gravel backfill behind all of the board. That will quickly collapse once the wood weakens.

 

[morewater]

I thought he was making forms to pour concrete?

 

[Mmathis]

Those are pics of @peter hillman's neighbor, I believe, correct? At first I thought they were by the OP of this project. Peter, has he completed this yet?

 

[snoozer]

The wood rotting was the first thing i thought of too. I used concrete block for the water falls. Where we needed to add brown dirt to raaise the low sides we added 4 inches at a time in an are larger than needed and compacted with a jumping jack. It ended up harder and more compact that the original soil.

 

[snoozer]

here is my son hard at work with the jumping jack. It worked great for what we needed.

 

[peter hillman]

Those are pics of @peter hillman's neighbor, I believe, correct? At first I thought they were by the OP of this project. Peter, has he completed this yet?

Not to hijack the thread but this has been a ten year project for him. I don't agree with the pond construction at all but he's the type that likes to tell you how to do things and has difficulty taking advice. I won't tell him about this forum because he already knows everything. And I'm not stopping him now! He's got plans for sitting on the mid level, as well as letting the dogs have free access. Mentioned seaming the liner if it's not big enough. Can you see the huge waterfall? Maybe I'll tell him about the forum next year