Photos of expansion project

[D&RW]

Yes, IF the original pond actually has 2,000 gallons which is what I calculated and the expansion area is 19X12X1.8X7.5 = 3,078 we'll have somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000. However, my preference is for hard data so I purchased a water meter ($60) that goes in line with the water hose. I'll be able to tell pretty accurately how much it holds when we fill it. Also, I'll be able to measure water changes and note where a given amount is on the side of the pond, e.g. 2 inches down = 10%.

I did the same thing with pump flow rates and head, i.e. purchased a flowmeter. First, I had to wonder if the advertised flow rate was true. Second, there are so many inputs to calculate head, e.g. diameter of pipe, length of pipe, number of soft 90s, hard 90s, 45s, open ball valves, and height of waterfall that I wanted to compare what the formula said the flow should be with a measurement. The resulting reading on the flowmeter was remarkably close to the calculated result. Calculated said 43 GPM and the reading was 45.

BTW, here is the link to the formulas I use: http://garden-pond-filters.com/calculators.htm

 

[koikeepr]

perhaps I missed one of the posts here, but how exactly are you keeping that stacked wall stone up? Is there rebar? wood? cement? what?

5,000 gallons of water has a lot of weight and "push" to it...even tho those blocks stagger when you put them up, that's certainly not enough to keep the water in.

What did I miss?

 

[chilligirl]

perhaps I missed one of the posts here, but how exactly are you keeping that stacked wall stone up? Is there rebar? wood? cement? what?

5,000 gallons of water has a lot of weight and "push" to it...even tho those blocks stagger when you put them up, that's certainly not enough to keep the water in.

What did I miss?

I was wondering the exact same thing. Looks awesome, but is there going to be something other than the weight of the blocks to hold the water in?

I've seen so much mixed advice. Some say that stacking them as you have is adequate to hold in water. Others say you have to put down a layer of gravel or sand, then stack the bricks and they should be mortared in place, or joined by rebar and gravel through the center of each brick...

 

[koikeepr]

That block has a little grip ledge at the bottom that supposedly can hold weight and locks them together, but that's meant to be supported with dirt behind the whole thing like in a garden setting. I've read the same mixed advice, chilligirl, but at the end most people support that kinda stone for fear of it busting.

I would not trust that on it's own to hold in 5000 gallons of water personally. It's an enormous amount of push pressure. I'd have to add some kinda additional support to it or I would not be able to sleep at night. LOL!

 

[Stouty109]

if the brick is only 3 or 4 bricks high its not supporting 5000 gal of water the rest is under ground i think it would hold it no problem after they are retaining wall block made for that reason of holding stuff back

 

[D&RW]

When we came up with this idea I did some research and the conservative consensus was for holding water, as long as you stay below 4 ft, these stones are not going anywhere. some sources said you can go higher, actually much higher, but I'd have to see it first.

So this method would handle 5,000 or even 10,000 gallons over a big enough area so as to stay below 4 ft, but Stouty109 hit the nail on the head here. Ours are actually going to handle only maybe 2500 gallons in the end.

Right now our pond is app. 2000 gallons: 16 X 7 X 3.5 deep average. The expansion is mostly above ground, although we are going to deepen the deep end by a foot and the north side, i.e. away from the fence by about 10 inches. (can't go deeper because of irrigation pipes.)

I buried the first course of stones in the ground as recommended, so the three 6 in tall blocks above ground constitute app. 18 inches. Water level will be a couple inches down, so call it 16 inches. So refiguring 19 X 12 X 1.33 (16 inches) X 7.5 = 2,374 gallons. A cubic foot of water weights about 62 pounds so that's 19 X 12 X 1.33 X 62 = 18,800 pounds.

All of the forces should be directly perpendicular to the wall, i.e. not pushing up on the rocks so as to disengage the lip. Each stone weighs 68 # and is offset so each stone rests on two below it rather than one directly on top of the next.

All this being said, I've made so many doggone mistakes that I never, ever mind rechecking things. So I called one of the manufacturers of these landscaping stones and was referred to the rep for our area. He said at the height I'm using there will be no problem at all.

The neat thing about this method is you don't have to use mortar.

The rest of the extra gallons are in deepening the deep end = 1 X 8 X 7 X 7.5 = 420 and deepening the north side of the expansion by about 10 inches = 200 +. So, 2000 + 2374 + 420 + 200 = 4994. See why I wanted a water meter? It'll be really interesting to see what the gallons turn out to be.




We're going to expand and deepen the deep end by 1 foot deep and 4 feet to the east side where before it sloped up. Now there'll be a much steeper slope, almost two distinct levels. One at 60 inches and one at 50.

We're going to lower the north side about 10 inches where the main part of the horizontal expansion is. so I'm hoping that shelf will be about 24 inches deep.

 

[karenskoipond]

When we built our first pond we used 3 layers of these bricks,we had some shifting, but we then used outdoor liquid nails to hold them in place. I believe it's called paver adhesive. We never had any movement after that.

 

[koiguy1969]

I think i would go with some block adhesive also.. Exspecially if you go thru a freeze thaw cycle!

 

[koikeepr]

ditto! Leaving it just unmortared or without glue scares me. I've also seen folks use metal strapping all the way around the bottom courses to hold things in too.

I just can't imagine letting it go solo... just my own crazy fears, I guess!

 

[D&RW]

Heck, ya'll are making me nervous. I may just go ahead and glue the top rocks. Definitely don't see the point on the ones below.

 

[stroppy]

will be keeping my fingers crossed for you D :banghead3:

 

[D&RW]

1) elevated waterfall 24". max fall will be 41". Still looking for a preformed pool for the first fall and then stream bed into the pond
2) fixed the 2" level difference in the wall where it came together. Used cement mixed with mortar mix so it'd be a bit smoother. Tapered it over about 4 ft.
3) Next step is digging & going and getting the loaner tanks for the fish transfer.

 

[DrCase]

Looks a lot like a water slide..

 

[koikeepr]

nice forms!

 

[D&RW]

Thanks. BTW, hurt my shoulder in a ground level fall. foot caught in some plastic wrapping wrapped around pallets of capstones I was looking at. Jammed the heck out of my left shoulder. May have to get someone else to finish the work. We'll see.