How Do I Stablize the Sides of a Pond?

[Chef Dave]

Hello All!

I live in rural Arizona and have been excavating a pond in my backyard. I've had an incredibly easy time digging out most of the pond because the ground is basically semi-compacted sand. Most of it has been quite simple to dig.

The pond has taken shape and is 18' X 11' with plant shelves that are 1' to 4' feet wide at depths of 1' to 2'. The center of the pond will be 4' deep.

My problem is that the sand on the northern side of the pond is giving me problems because it's extremely loose. I've been trying to level the bottom but every time I scoop out loose sand, more sand comes pouring down.

I suspect I may just have to suck it up and have a 130 degree slope ... but before committing to the installation of the underlayment and liner, I thought I'd ask members of this forum if anyone has constructive (and yes that was a pun) suggestions about how to stabilize the north slope so that I could perhaps have a slightly steeper slope.

If worse comes to worse, a 130 degree slope would be okay ... but I'd really like to be able to level out the bottom of this slope without having more and more sand cascade down.

I was thinking about the possibility of spraying this slope with some sort of quick setting foam. I could then level off the bottom and put the underlayment and liner in place. Once the pond was filled, the weight of the water would hold the slope in place.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks,

David

 

[DrDave]

I don't know what they use in sandcastle building but starch in water, sprayed might work.
I would Google sand castles to find out.

 

[Chef Dave]

I appreciate the advice Dr.Dave. You're a pretty knowledgeable fellow. I'm glad I found this site and appreciate your help.

I'll look into it and will post whatever I learn here, just in case someone else runs into the same problem.

Thanks!

Dave

 

[Chef Dave]

I looked on line and found an excerpt of an interesting article by Arshad Kudrolli in the October issue of Nature Physics.The "perfect recipe" for working with sand is 8 parts sand to 1 part water. I may try misting the slope with water and patting it down with a trowel to see if I can get it to stabilize long enough for me to level off the bottom of the pond.

Once the liner is in and the pond is filled with water, the weight of the water will hold the slope in place.

Unfortunately, since I just realized that I have to put a fence up before I put a single drop of water in the pond, it is quite possible that this project will not go forward until next spring.

Oh well ...

 

[DrDave]

Is the fence for safety reasons? In Southern California, if your pond is over 18" deep, you have to have a permit to build it.

 

[Chef Dave]

I think the fence is for liability and safety reasons. All I know is that it's state law. I'm not clear on whether the law says that the fence is required for ponds that are more than 1 ft. deep or 2 ft. deep ... but since this pond will have a maximum depth of 4 feet, the question is moot.

Regarding the permit, I live in a small rural community. I don't need a permit. The only other requirement I encountered was that I had to call "Blue Stakes" to come out and identify where the gas and sewer lines were. I was fortunate that I didn't have any of these lines in the backyard. The side of the house, where part of the fence is going will be another issue ... but if we bolt the fence posts on top of the concrete patio surface, I think we'll be fine.