Pond questions...new guy here

hey guys. i am new to the newsgroup. i have been into my aquariums for a
few years...i had a 37 and just upgraded to a 75gallon last month.

i managed to aquire the property where i grew up and there is a small
pond....12x17 i believe. It is well over 50 yrs old. It is a natural
dirt bottom with no liner. i believe there is an artesian well that
feeds into the bottom of it so a liner is out of the question. the walls
are slowly cracking and beginning to cave in due to the ground
surrounding it. anyone have any ideas as to how to go about rebuilding
this pond so it lasts another 50+ years. the walls right now are a very
aged poured concrete about 6" thick. the one end wall originally was
block but has fallen in a long time ago...

would it make sense to pump out 90% of the water and dig around the
existing walls and recast them with a rebar cage to keep them from
pushing in again??? then remove the old walls with a jack hammer?

wrote in message
. ..
would it make sense to pump out 90% of the water and dig around the
existing walls and recast them with a rebar cage to keep them from pushing
in again??? then remove the old walls with a jack hammer?
===================
You may want to ask this on the rec.ponds NG as there are knowledgeable
people there who may be able to help you. Or you can call your agricultural
agent and inquire where you can get the information you need for your area,
climate and soil conditions.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

freebird01 wrote,
would it make sence to pump out 90% of the water and dig around the existing walls and recast them ...... then remove the old walls.......

That's a lot of work! Look into renting a Gunite machine. You can spray
right over the old walls and spray retaining walls where the block
walls were. I'm sure a small contractor could give you a cheaper price
than it would cost you to buy the lumber to build forms, or rent the
concrete forms and pay for the concrete to pour it yourself. ..........
Frank

Frank wrote:
freebird01 wrote,

would it make sence to pump out 90% of the water and dig around the existing walls and recast them ...... then remove the old walls.......


That's a lot of work! Look into renting a Gunite machine. You can spray
right over the old walls and spray retaining walls where the block
walls were. I'm sure a small contractor could give you a cheaper price
than it would cost you to buy the lumber to build forms, or rent the
concrete forms and pay for the concrete to pour it yourself. ..........
Frank



the only problem i see with that is the existing walls are already
breached. my dad had built a frame to span the pond to keep the side
walls from falling in cause they were split from top to bottom clean
through and were already pushing in.

freebird01 wrote,
the only problem i see with that is the existing walls are already breached........

No problem - steel wire is placed over the existing wall and the gunite
crete is sprayed over the whole wall. Where there is no wall, rebar is
installed about 1.5" from the dirt and gunite crete is sprayed against
the dirt 3" to 4" thick, making the wall. Swimming pools and waterfalls
are made that way - no forms. .............. Frank