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Man made Lake.


tj
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Hi

Dont really know where to post this, so here goes.

I need to create a lake of around 500 m², firstly has anyone done this on a large scale?

The questions I have are, anyone have any idea of the logistics of a project like this, how much earth needs to moved, best way to move it, how to stop the water draining away etc etc.

My wife wanted to live near the river, we were unable to do this, so I thought ok lets have small lake, which might encourage some wildlife, stock it with a few fish etc.

any comments appreciated

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Never made one but the man-made lake (étang) that we inherited was created by damming a stream.  Presumably you have a stream to feed your proposed lake.  Our lake is lined bottom and sides with blue clay which would originally have been 'puddled' by cattle to consolidate it.  This appears to be the standard construction round here.

The digging out is the easy bit - you should be able to hire a man with a JCB to do it for about 50 euros an hour.

The most expensive part will be if you have transport all the earth off site.  To save this cost shift it to somewhere on your land if you can; if so, make sure that the topsoil goes back on top and the subsoil on the bottom.  Count on shifting about 500 tons of earth for every metre of depth for a small lake of 500m2.  Our étang is (or should be once thirty-odd years worth of accumulated silt is dredged out) about 2 metres deep at the deepest part in the centre.  You will need to incorporate 'shelves' into the lake profile and slope the edges so you can have marginals as well as deep water planting.

Phil

PS I am no expert on this - just sharing what little info I have.

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