some of you may remember the large pond near the entry to our subdivision.. all man-made..
i’d guess it ‘s about 300′ wide and 200′ across… probably about 9’ deep
anyways about three weeks ago we woke up to find it drained..
here’s the big rock near the road.. looking back from the dam on the far side
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Edited 4/11/2005 8:52 pm ET by Mike Smith
Edited 4/11/2005 8:53 pm ET by Mike Smith
Replies
and a close up of the rock... you can see the water has dropped about 5 ' - 6'
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away off on the other side , you can see the overflow pipe and the catch basin...
Edited 4/11/2005 8:58 pm ET by Mike Smith
Edited 4/11/2005 8:59 pm ET by Mike Smith
as you get closer you can see what happened to the water... some of the bannana blocks lost their mortar..
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and the pressure blew in the side of the catch basin..
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Edited 4/11/2005 9:03 pm ET by Mike Smith
My first guess was going to be that someone pulled the drainplug so they could herd the alligators easier.Ever been that busy?Your explanation makes sense also.
Barry E-Remodeler
At least it is a cheap repair.
I have seen what can happen when those earthen dams get saturated with water and bust open.
A lot of people around here make those ponds for either watering livestock or for reducing there fire insurance.
The over flow pipe is usually cast iron duck tail pipe. The same kind of pipe that most cities use for water and sewage. It may not look as pretty as what you have there but it will not bust out like that either.
DaneI will always be a beginner as I am always learning.
That looks to me to be a pretty lousy way to build an overflow. I hope they find a better way to fix it.
If money doesn't grow on trees then why do banks have branches?
That's actually a pretty decent way to build an overflow. Most of the time it's just a vertical pipe with a screen top connected with an elbow to the horizontal drain below the pond surface.
That's obviously an old system, evidenced by the condition of the corrugated metal pipe and the laid-up catch basin.
I'd replace that system with a new precast manhole, core it up high for the inlet and down low (with a decent 12-18" sump) for the outlet, and retain the access grate/cover as is.
What's done "most of the time" in your area isn't necessarilly what's done "most of the time" all around the country.I think having ANY sort of connection underwater is a bad idea. Freeze/thaw cycles are relentless, as is the pressure of the water. Better to have a concrete overflow, or just a pipe straight through the dam, IMHO.
If a mime swears, does his mother make him wash his hands with soap?
you're right , boss... it only lasted 23 years... 'course, i'm thinking if they had parged the exterior a little better it would still be there..
be interesting to see how they do the repairs..
i'll be there with my cameraMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
well?
rez told me to do this:~)
yeah........?and if rez tole u to jump off a bridge, would you ?Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
These days perhaps I might not even need his prompting.
Hey, like they say, it can only get better.
"be interesting to see how they do the repairs..i'll be there with my camera"Got any pics to prove it?
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
Ought to make fishing easier, if there's anything left in there.
So who's responsible for the repair? Is there a maintenance fund for the subdivision, or is the resident construction guy (guess who) gonna come to the rescue?
ever hear of "special assessment " ?
i'll leave this to the homeowner's associationMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I can remember reading an article years ago about a guy who woke up one morning to find his pond gone. Just a muddy basin.
The newspaper had a picture of him standing in the middle of the 'pond'. Turns out that mine subsidence was responsible. A crack had appeared in the bottom of the pond and the water drained right down (don't remember if the fish went too).
Probably about once every other year we read about somebody whose house suffers some differential settling due to mine subsidence (as in one portion of your house just drops a couple inches in a short period of time).
Pretty amazing when you think about how far down those coal mines are, that a collapsed shaft/tunnel dominoes all the way to the surface. I've seen a "mine subsidence" map for Springfield. You're pretty much screwed if you're in town. They've been burrowing hereabouts for 150 years or so, so just about everything except under the capital building has a subsidence zone under it.
jt8
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. -- Leo Tolstoy
There's mine subsidence all around our area too. My Uncle had a large sink in the middle of one of his fields. The local mine denied having anything to do with it. The legal battle went on for 10 years~. Eventually they admitted they had pillars that were too small, and they sunk. .Most of Carlinville has been undermined. But for some reason - The mining stopped at the edge of the rich banker's estate in town. (-:Consequently, I have mine subsidence insurance on my houses.
I am free of all prejudice. I hate everyone equally [WC Fields]
Around here, the biggest problem isn't with companies currently mining, it is with the 100 different companies that USED to mine that are now out of business. Maybe company "X" was in operation from 1870-1905 and burrowed here there and everywhere. Not a whole lotta regulations back then.
ha ha, nowadays I'm surprised the mining companies don't hook up with the landfill folks. Pack those old shafts with garbage ;)
Consequently, I have mine subsidence insurance on my houses.
Better safe than sorry.jt8
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. -- Leo Tolstoy
hey boss
Consequently, I have mine subsidence insurance on my houses.
never heard of that before --is it kinda like a flood insurance in other places?
"never heard of that before --is it kinda like a flood insurance in other places?"
I'm not sure - I know nothing about flood insurance.
I think it's almost a given around here. Since so much of the ground around here has been undermined (maybe 75%?) insurance agents just automatically add it when you get homeowner's insurance.
Like John said - A lot of it is older mines from up to 100 years ago. You never know what's going to happen or when.
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.
Consequently, I have mine subsidence insurance on my houses.
never heard of that before --is it kinda like a flood insurance in other places?
No, we can have that too. New one I've noticed lately is the insurance companies forcing folks to pony up for flood insurance. In some cases its questionable whether its a valid point. For instance someone next to a lake that has its water levels controlled by a power company. What do they think is going to happen, the overflow clogs and the water level shoots up 12'?
jt8
Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. -- John R. Wooden
I know one way to drain a pond and no pumps. We had to build a swim/boat house on the edge of a pond and in order to pour some footers we had to drop the pond level. We took a 100' roll of black corrugated drain pipe sealed one end; laid over the damn; filled it full of water; sealed the other end and dropped that in the pond.Then with timing being critical we both cut open the plugs.I tell u what...it came out like a fire hose; u could carve the hillside like hydro-mining in alaska, and stay away from the pond end...it was sucking full bricks down the pipe. In about 3 hrs the water level in the 1/2 acre pond had fallen 2'.