Building Lake Corona
- Thread starter jk96
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Today was a long day but I was able to get everything done that I needed to. We are supposed to get 1 to 2 inches of rain tonight. The deepest part of the pond is complete so now if the water gets above that I can just drain back to where I left off today and not have to completely empty it and wait for it to dry. Should be very manageable now to finish up. The rest of my week is full but I'm hoping to wrap it up next week. Compacted everything with several passes today. I spread bentonite over the lowest portion of the pond, covered with a few more inches of clay, then compacted again. I will probably blanket the rest of it as well. I need to cut a walk path around the hill I'm pulling from so there will be a lot of clay that get's removed that I can use. I added a 45 to the pond inlet and got the screen secured to it.
My bentonite is in 3000lb sacks at my shop so I wasn't quite sure until today how I was going to get them here without a lot of extra work moving my loader to and from. My Kuboto L6060 will lift about 2,200lbs on a pallet. I ended up backing my tilt trailer to the door and using the Kubota tractor to push them up onto the trailer. Shop is only 5 min from home so I think this will be the method for the rest of them as well.
Here's a 360 view from center of the pond after compacting
Bentonite spread. This was a pain. Supersacks are supposed to be 3,000 lbs and several of them seem to be every bit of that or more. Straps broke while spreading on 2 of the 3. I ended up going back to get my tractor and using the rake to spread it more evenly after this pic.
Covered up and re-compacted
Elbo and drain cover added.
View from above - Yellow line is the where I will need to cut in a walking path. I'll use that dirt to cover the bentonite.
My bentonite is in 3000lb sacks at my shop so I wasn't quite sure until today how I was going to get them here without a lot of extra work moving my loader to and from. My Kuboto L6060 will lift about 2,200lbs on a pallet. I ended up backing my tilt trailer to the door and using the Kubota tractor to push them up onto the trailer. Shop is only 5 min from home so I think this will be the method for the rest of them as well.
Here's a 360 view from center of the pond after compacting
Bentonite spread. This was a pain. Supersacks are supposed to be 3,000 lbs and several of them seem to be every bit of that or more. Straps broke while spreading on 2 of the 3. I ended up going back to get my tractor and using the rake to spread it more evenly after this pic.
Covered up and re-compacted
Elbo and drain cover added.
View from above - Yellow line is the where I will need to cut in a walking path. I'll use that dirt to cover the bentonite.
bindian
Super Member
Looking good. The hill sides seem to be holding the erosion to a mininum. How much was silted in since you started the pond?
bindian
Super Member
Yeah, it's amazing how fast silt can accumulate into muck.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
I can't think of anything else you could have done. It looks really good!!!
Other than hiring someone from the start that actually knew what they were doing me either. Going to hit the dam pretty heavy with bentonite. If it doesn't fill this time it's definitely not for lack of trying.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
We have storms starting here in East Texas today. Looks like the will be heading your way next!!!!
We got some pretty heavy rains last night but they move through pretty quick so I'm not sure how much we actually got. Looks like more coming Friday/Saturday. Probably the storms you're referring to. Dropping the padfoot roller off to the rental company and then going to walk back and see how much is sitting in the pond at the moment. Weather next week looks perfect for wrapping this up
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
I like this site. I used it to figure out how big my ponds are, and to estimate how long each run of fencing is. You have to read the instructions to figure it out, but then it's pretty easy to use.
Not nearly as big as it looks in the pictures. I think about 1.5 acres. If it fills this time will make a nice little fishing pond and be great for wildlife. I think most of it's around 8 ft deep and about 14 ft at the deepest part by the dam
I walked back today to see if water has receded any yet. My very unscientific stick marker I put in yesterday morning hasn't moved in 36 hours. Also the puddles haven't dried up either. Water is shallow so no pressure at the moment but first signs are good news. It also didn't take the deer long to find out their watering hole is back.
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EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
I'm watching the radar, and it looks like Missouri is getting a lot of rain right now. Hope you're in the area with all the heavy stuff!!!!
I hope I'm not, but is coming steady at the moment. Lol. I'll have to drain it down so I can finish up the bentonite.
I drained the pond down a bit a couple days ago. Got my flags in for the walk path grade. 6 bags of bentonite total are down now including the 3 under water. 9 more to go tomorrow then will start cutting in my walk path and using that clay to cover.
Bentonite is down. I have 1 bag to run at the area bottom of screen after I drag this huge stump out of the way. Going to drag it on top of the finished area. Started the cut in for a walk path today and covered up a good portion of the bentonite. Hopefully I'll have it finished up tomorrow other than compacting.
ponytug
Super Member
Thanks I do as well. A lot of time invested in this project overall if it doesn't work. The bentonite ended up being harder to spread than anticipated. Between broken straps and just uneven coverage with a 3000lb bag swinging from the forks I gave up that approach after 3 bags. I ended up just emptying on the ground and using the bucket to spread. This stuff is pretty messy as well. Almost like spreading flour. It's really fine. Even trying to work backwards and moving upwind I clogged my air filter by the time I was done. The reverser fan kept kicking on so I figured it was clogged. When I pulled it, it looked like a shop vac filter after sheet rock dust. The inner filter still looked good. I think I got the machine cleaned out pretty well with the leaf blower. The last thing I wanted was to leave any inside the engine bay and have moisture get to it. It gets really gummy and sticky when wet. Should be done today and compacting tomorrow. Need to wrap this up as I have a feeling my wife is currently biting her tongue giving the other things around here that should have priority.
