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jtd
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Major Pond Dam Repair
09/24/02 07:04 PM Attachment
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Well, the spillway's beginning to collapse and the back side of the dam is wet. Time to repair the dam and remove the 30+ year old trees on it. See photo.
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jtd
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Photo #2. The log cabin in the first photo is my neighbors across from my land.
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jtd
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Photo #3 is another neighbor (who's working on the dam for me) checking the water level remaining in the pond. We've let the pond down about 13 to 15 ft at the spillway by now and have another 4 to 5 ft to drop it to expose the pipe.
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Hayseed
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: jtd]
09/24/02 07:11 PM
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I see the water level is pretty low. Did you draw the level down to work on it? Why remove 30 year old trees? Were they on top of the dam and in the way or were they contributing to the collapse?
Chris
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jtd
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: Hayseed]
09/24/02 07:43 PM
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We've been dropping the water level for 2 weeks so we could begin work. The spillway is leaking internally and collapsing. The outflow pipe (installed in this dam 30 years ago) was used when it was put in and probably is 100 years old now. We'll see if it is any good but its ends and the dampness on the downstream side of the dam around the pipe is not good. Trees and their roots are damaging to earthen dams. DHEC requires you to remove them when doing major repairs (they can also take you to court and force you to remove them anytime).
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MRB
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: Hayseed]
09/24/02 11:50 PM
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Hayseed
The problem with trees on a dam is that the trees will eventually die. The roots will decay and leave a perfect tunnel for the water in your lake or pond to travel through. The water erodes the tunnel, making the hole bigger. Pretty soon you have no water in your pond/lake.
Edited by MRB (09/24/02 11:51 PM)
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: MRB]
09/25/02 02:02 AM
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I didn't know that. I have a friend whose pond levee is lined with 15 year old pines. I will pass this info on to him. Thanks.
Chris
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s1120
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: jtd]
09/25/02 01:41 PM
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Is this the first time its been drained in the las 30years? If so, have you found anything cool on the bottom? 
Paul Bradway
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jtd
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: s1120]
09/26/02 07:37 AM
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About 7 to 8 years ago one of the lower boards broke on the spillway and the water came down roughly 10 feet. According to the neighbors, this is the first time in 30 years the pond has been drained. Not too much in the pond so far. Just a few tires, lots of stumps and Xmas trees. Bye the way, if you want to meet most of the neighbors in the surrounding area, just start a project like this and they'll all show up. Even climb around the barrier fences we errected and ask why they are there. I joked with my neighbor's son who's contracted for the dam repair that we ought to have a major project once a year just to get to know the neighbors. His eyes lite up with that thought ($$). Sure do get lots of advice on what we should be doing. You'ld also think that fishing in the pond was a major source of food they way some complain about the pond going down now. (A few neighbors have access rights to the pond when the previous owner sold lots on one side.)
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jtd
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: jtd]
10/01/02 09:18 PM
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Met with the contractor and the spillway/pipe fabricator today. We walked to the base of the spillway and examined it. Cement block facing at the base is completely broken away and the pipe looks like the bottom has rusted away. Not surprising since that 48" pipe is estimated to be 100+ years old. The main topic of conversation was speculating about why the spillway was still standing. Most thought the drought probably extended it's life these last few years. Anyway, a new spillway with 100 ft pipe will cost in the $10,000 range for fabrication.  The dam itself will have to be recored and widened (since for half of it we've only found beach sand). Hopefully we hit some good clay soon.
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jtd
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Update. New spillway & pipe will be here next week. Here's a shot of the tractor and 17 yard pan to dig clay from my place for the dam core. It can really move dirt.
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jtd
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Another photo of the tractor and pan. As long as it was there, I had them move the overburden dirt to cover a 100 ft culvert I added to a small creek crossing the power line. Now it will be easier for me to maintain the powerline so the power co. won't have to spray/bushhog it. Got some tractor time moving dirt too! 
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ScottAR
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: jtd]
10/13/02 03:31 PM
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That a Case crawler I see operating over in the background?
Crawlers are good... 
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jtd
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: ScottAR]
10/14/02 06:20 AM
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There are two Case dozers on site. One's small (454?) and we are using it to clear the path for the fencing we are installing. Sure beats hand clearing. The other is with the pond construction crew. It sure helps that one next door neighbor family owns both. The son owns the construction business - bought his dad out with another neighbor's backing. He drives the New Holland & pan 1/4 mile down the road to his house each night after work.
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njrqs
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: jtd]
10/14/02 09:57 PM
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Man that is one nice looking dam, even if it is almost empty.
I could put a boat in mine, but I'd have to turn it around and come back real quick as it aint real big !!
Cheers
From OZ
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jtd
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: njrqs]
10/15/02 05:51 AM
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It is a very pretty 16 acre pond, winding through the trees following the creek bed. This is the reason we want to keep it and are willing to invest the money for the best long term repair of the dam. It appears to never have had a proper core, being constructed of the topsoil, etc pushed down from the adjacent slopes around the dam. As we've dug, we've found the dam to have been very water saturated. We are fortunate that it didn't blow out in the last few years. Wednesday we receive the new spillway and pipe. We should start that instalation Thursday or Friday, weather permitting. More photos then.
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Fishman
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: jtd]
10/16/02 12:49 PM
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Any plans to restock it, or did your drawdown leave enough water for the existing fish population?
Fishman
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jtd
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: Fishman]
10/16/02 05:01 PM
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It'll have to be restocked. The state has a good program costing $38.50 per acre for 500 bluegill/shellcracker fingerlings stocked in Nov/Dec and 50 bass stocked in May (all per acre). This would cost me $600+. I'll probably miss this program this year since the pond won't be full until January? I haven't checked private fish sources yet. The pond really needs bedding habitat improvement. I may add some gravel beds plus I'll look into getting lots of Xmas trees from the county in January. In 3 to 5 years with proper management the fish population should be very good. I just have to keep the neighbors from fishing it out. One neighbor even thinks that adding mature large bass is good for a new pond. 
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njrqs
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: jtd]
10/16/02 05:48 PM
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16 acres !!!!!!
Now that is living !!
We only own 6 acres here and my dam is probably 10% of one acre.
Man that would be cool indeed.
Lucky bugger !!
Hey there would be no use us havign a dam that big. It would only be full for a short time. We don't have the rain to keep it full.
Many of our large water supply dams are down to 10-40% capacity.
Cheers
From OZ
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jtd
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: njrqs]
10/17/02 06:33 AM
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One of the reasons we want to keep the pond is that even with the 5 year drought here, this pond was full until we drained it.
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jtd
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Only two sections of the new pipe were delivered Friday. The spillway and the last pipe section will arrive Monday (hopefully).
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jtd
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Here's a photo of the temporary bypass 12" pipe being installed so we can remove the old pipe.
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jtd
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This is the old spillway (17 ft high). They'll probably take it out today. Unfortunately, I cannot be there to watch and take photographs. Wife & dog obligations in GA.
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: jtd]
10/21/02 10:14 PM
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The restocking program also starts in the spring w/ bream & bass in the fall. Good Luck.
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jtd
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Last week they worked on excavating one half of the dam and starting the building of the core. Here's a couple of shots.
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jtd
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Another photo.
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jtd
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The last section of pipe and the spillway were delivered. These should be installed this week if the weather cooperates. They found good clay for the core footing about 10 to 12 feet below the footing of the spillway location so the core was dug out and rebuilt from there up.
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jtd
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The pipe and spillway were installed over the last three days. Here's a series of photos of the action. Lots of mud involved. In the first photo, the middle and back pipe sections were bolted together in place and the front 30 foot pipe section to the spillway riser is shown.
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jtd
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This photo shows the front pipe section being lowered into place after the seal plate has been attached.
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jtd
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This is a closeup photo of the joining of the pipes and seal plate. There is a gasket to be installed also.
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jtd
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The spillway riser is being bolted to the front pipe section. Lots of bolts to tighten on this project.
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jtd
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Spillway is installed and concrete is being poured around the base and inside for ballast. Now it can cure and we can start water through it tomorrow. Then the temporary pipe can be removed and the second half of the dam core can be built. There is light at the end of the tunnel now.
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MikePA
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: jtd]
11/03/02 05:46 PM
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jtd, I'll show my ignorance , what purpose do all these pipes serve? The extent of my is that the earth holds the water back. 
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hazmat
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: jtd]
11/04/02 07:03 AM
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jtd,
Looks like you're making good progress! Send your guys my way, the big dig in Boston keeps getting delayed!
Hazmat
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jtd
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: MikePA]
11/04/02 07:14 AM
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MikePA
There are a couple of ways the water can escape when the pond gets full. Either over a runaround over the dam or through a pipe through the dam. The first method is more common on runoff ponds and those filled by wells, etc. For a pond like ours with a good stream flow even in a drought its better to use a riser-spillway with a buried pipe at the lowest level through the dam. In wet years and hurricane season, this pipe will have a lot of water flowing through it. We'd have to have a concrete runaround all the way to the bottom of the dam's downstream side to handle that much water. I'm not certain that DHEC would even let me build a dam without a pipe given the wet season flow. Basically we have a 14 to 16 foot high spillway riser connected to 100 ft of 4 ft diameter outflow pipe through the center of the dam. We will also have an overflow runaround to protect against very heavy short term flow or if the spillway gets blocked (logs, beavers, etc). If you'ld like more information on dam construction, a search on the net will pull up lots more. This is my first and it's been an education. I've asked lots more newbie questions myself.
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jtd
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: hazmat]
11/04/02 07:22 AM
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They say they'll work out of state but I don't know if they'll go that far. Sounds like a big job in Boston. I heard that a recent state or county study found that up to 80% of the pond dams in our county need repair and /or possibly could be condemmed. No action by DHEC yet. It'll be interesting to see how many are blown out when the next big hurricane hits. I think these guys will be busy here for awhile but they are trying to grow their business. I definently would recommend them for all small/medium scale earthworks. My dam probably is small to medium for landowners.
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jtd
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The job's complete now. Here's a photo this week after we put the first few boards in the spillway. Hope it won't take too long to fill the pond. Good rain yesterday so I'll go look today.
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em14
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: jtd]
12/15/02 09:20 AM
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It looks like your dam "repair" turned out nice ... as you know, building a dam is not just pushing up some earth across a stream of water. Many years ago, a friend of mine was apart of the study of the failure of a large failed dam in the west. Later he was ask to testify to Congress when Congress was deciding on a study of all Dams in the US over a certain height to check them for safety ... read this as breaking .. he was an interesting guy to talk to ... I was hoping I could get the Feds to help me get rid of the Beavers on my place ... no such luck ... they are still there and I'm sure they will out last me ...
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: em14]
12/21/02 02:08 AM
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Now that is ONE HECK OF A PLACE you got there. Wow! I just can't get over the work that was performed and talk about awesome pics and play by play. Dang! As always let's see more keep the pics coming.
Darin
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: jtd]
12/23/02 05:23 PM
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Jtd,
I sure have enjoyed your dam project and especially because I didn't have to pay for it.  Seriously, thank-you for sharing all of the photos and a small education on dam building. Please keep the photos coming as the water level rises and you replant the area. Looks like you found yourself a beautiful place.
MarkV
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jtd
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Re: Major Pond Dam Repair
[re: MarkV]
12/24/02 07:57 AM
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Thanks. This project has been interesting, but pricey too. This weekend I planted wheat and rye on the hillside where we dug out the clay for the dam and spread most of the previous dirt from the dam. Had it limed a week earlier. It's also got some annual rye seed on it to help with errosion. The pond is about 7 feet deep now. Hope it'll be full by mid-January. Depends on the weather. I'll be weighting down Xmas trees in the shallows in January for fish habitat. Hopefully the state hasn't dropped the stocking program due to budget constraints since it's the best deal around. I'm building pasture fencing and a round pen now.
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