Creating a Lake

[RadarTech]

Not sure how much cost difference there is... But why about using a line pump to sit the truck 30 feet or so off and pump it in....I know challenges are there but just a thought

 

[jinman]

Eddie you answered most of my questions with the last post. I'm added a labelled photo of your spillway to clarify my questions/suggestions. The 2nd drawing is an attempt to show the swirling effect of the water inside the spillway walls. As the water rolls off the spillway, it will be spinning and probably erode more than just flowing water over grass. I see on closer examination that your ends are much higher than a 2x4 width. I think you said 8" higher.:thumbsup:

I'm not sure how you will tie in the walkway bridge either. Will it touch the spillway or be tied in for additional strength?

 

[EddieWalker]

Jim,

My first plan was to just build a wall, then I thought about erosion as the water came over the wall and how it would undercut the wall. I added the pad to handle this and hopefully slow down the water before it hits the grass. I've considered spreading plastic and gravel down after the concrete, but really want to see how it works with just grass. Once my bermuda fills in, it's pretty good at holding the soil in place and the slope is almost zero.

The spillway is two feet tall, or four blocks. The bridge joists will rest on the top block, which is the fifth block up. This gives me 8 inches of height that water can flow over the dam without touching the first joist. I've worried that this might not be enough, but with the width that I have, I think I'm going to be fine. It goes back to lots of guessing on my part and seeing what's come through the spillway before when it was full.

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[bindian]

Jim,

My first plan was to just build a wall, then I thought about erosion as the water came over the wall and how it would undercut the wall. I added the pad to handle this and hopefully slow down the water before it hits the grass. I've considered spreading plastic and gravel down after the concrete, but really want to see how it works with just grass. Once my bermuda fills in, it's pretty good at holding the soil in place and the slope is almost zero.

The spillway is two feet tall, or four blocks. The bridge joists will rest on the top block, which is the fifth block up. This gives me 8 inches of height that water can flow over the dam without touching the first joist. I've worried that this might not be enough, but with the width that I have, I think I'm going to be fine. It goes back to lots of guessing on my part and seeing what's come through the spillway before when it was full.

Thank you,
Eddie

Eddie,
The dam on the 75 acre lake where my ex MIL lives has concrete bolsters stilling up at random locations on the back side of the concrete down sloping spillway. These concrete pillows stuck up about 2 feet and were big enough to sit on.
hugs, brandi

 

[pilot-werx]

Although my pond is not nearly as big, here is my spillway....

 

[Ranger Rick]

Jim,

The spillway is two feet tall, or four blocks. The bridge joists will rest on the top block, which is the fifth block up. This gives me 8 inches of height that water can flow over the dam without touching the first joist. I've worried that this might not be enough, but with the width that I have, I think I'm going to be fine. It goes back to lots of guessing on my part and seeing what's come through the spillway before when it was full.

Thank you,
Eddie

Eddie is your first bridge joist going to be at the edge of the pier next to the dam? Also do you ever get floating branches or debris that would try to go over the spillway. If you do you may want to raise your bridge up a little bit so that debris is less likely to catch on the bridge. Eight inches is not much space for water to go under the joist unless your 100 year flow is only a couple of inches. It looks like it will be good and strong.
Rick

 

[Western]

Eddie you answered most of my questions with the last post. I'm added a labelled photo of your spillway to clarify my questions/suggestions. The 2nd drawing is an attempt to show the swirling effect of the water inside the spillway walls. As the water rolls off the spillway, it will be spinning and probably erode more than just flowing water over grass. I see on closer examination that your ends are much higher than a 2x4 width. I think you said 8" higher.:thumbsup:

I'm not sure how you will tie in the walkway bridge either. Will it touch the spillway or be tied in for additional strength?

Great label job Jim, that is what I was trying to convey, I used the word "baffle", but you did a much better job. Hydraulic turbulence can do amazing things.

What I said earlier, it may take a few times of overflow use to see what will actually happen, but the nice thing is, it will be easy to add rip-rap or what not, to combat any problems that may arise.

Eddie, sure looks good brother and tough work in the muggy heat.

 

[EddieWalker]

Brandi,

That was one of my plans. But I was going to pour a straight wall land support it with three piers that would be on the backside of the dam. After thinking about what it would take to do this, I came up with putting rebar into the pad and angleing it into the dam wall. This is how I came up with angleing the entire back side of the dam. At two feet, I think I have enough strength. In fact, I kept going bigger, until I thought I'm at over kill and then some with my thickness.

Pilot,

Thanks for the picture. I love the rock and very will might use some after the pad. Trnasistioning from the concrete pad to the rock has me scratching my head, but I'm thinking of just adding more concrete there to hold the rocks together and not let the water undermine them. Here, I don't have to pay tax on river rock, so that's what I'll use if I decide it's something I need to have.

Ranger,

Yes, it will be right at the edge of the blocks, almost sttaight above the dam. There are a lot of logs and stumps in there, but very little flows to the spillway. They are all locked together in piles and have stayed in position since I built the piles. There will be some floating stuff, but I'm hoping that with regular mowing and cleanup, I should be able to handle it. Even so, I'm sure that I will have something jam into there and cause me problems. My thought is that it's wide enough to handle it without stoping water flow, and strong enough to hold it if it happens. Lots of guessing here, so the possibility of failure is always there.

Dennis,

Thanks. It's tedius and time consuming, but also fun and satisfying. I've been planning this for years, and havent' started it because I didn't have it figured out, then didn't have the time, or the water was too high. Now seems to be the time to do it, I just need some dry weather so I can get an 80,000 lb concrete truck down there safely.

Eddie

 

[mike69440]

Although my pond is not nearly as big, here is my spillway....

Nice spillway, I will do something similar with field stome and boulders

 

[pilot-werx]

my little pond is only 450k gallons and 20' deep. I dug it in a 100% clay deposit and it is fed by a few springs. The top six feet where lined with geo fabric and stone. The spillway was formed out of clay, lined, covered with stone and a slab of granite was used to control level. Many have questioned the integrity but is important that zero surface water enters the pond and the maximum amount of water, aside from rain, that can enter is controlled by a 4" pipe....