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Parrothead

Filled in one pond and dug a new one, today.

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Parrothead

Lookin' at building a house - down the road anyway. But, for starters, we had to start filling in a pond and raise the land around it. (Previously, the land had been used for rice farming.) 

 

The new pond is 12.3m x 10.6m x 4m. The "old" pond was 19m x 9m x 3m.

 

Old pond:

image (3)_r.jpg

 

Now, it looks like this:

IMG_2045_r.jpg

 

The new pond looks like this:

IMG_2049_r.jpg

 

IMG_2051_r.jpg

 

IMG_2057_r.jpg

 

IMG_2058_r.jpg

 

Ultimately, we will build a small house on top of where the "old" pond was. Will have to add more fill dirt first, though, due to massive settling expected. 

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andy

Plenty of fish then Paul

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Parrothead

Plenty of fish then Paul

 

Gonna have to wait until we move out there, to stock it with fish. People will steal them if I don't. 

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TorJay

That ain't no pond yer diggin' there old boy.  That looks more like an open-pit mine! :D

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Read2Learn

Sorry but I have some foolish questions.

 

My first question is why all that work? 

 

Was the old pond close to where the new pond is now?

 

Was there any fish in the old pond, even tiny ones?

 

If so, could you have dug the new pond and filled it with water and fish from the old pond and then used the dirt from the new pond to fill the old pond? 

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Parrothead

Sorry but I have some foolish questions.

I don't look at any of your questions as foolish. Inquiring, though, which is fine. I like to address questions, as you already know.

 

 

My first question is why all that work?

When she (Chan) was working in Malaysia, she instructed her family to "dig a pond". She had explained to them clearly enough to NOT dig it close to front part of the property. She wanted it farther back, so she would have room to build a home later. Obviously, someone misunderstood.

 

As you can see, by the image below, the original location we wanted to put the home. And, now the current location we have decided on - which just happens to be where the former pond is. 

 

The map below is fairly accurate, aside from additional blocks of land that didn't need to be included, south of the current land. 

 

farm_layout.gif

 

Basically, the house will be constructed about a 45° angle to the property line, so as to be facing North and South. I want the rear roof to face south for sun rays collection. 

 

 

Was the old pond close to where the new pond is now?

 

Close? Well, it's still fairly close, considering the size of the property. However, not so very close as to be in the way.  I would say, probably 50m to 60m distance, from the old pond to the new? (Guessing. I can measure it later this week, for accuracy.)

 

 

Was there any fish in the old pond, even tiny ones?

 

Most definitely. They took a pump and drained the water from the pond, the day before we went there to fill it in. Got loads of fish out of it. You can see the water in the adjacent rice field, all pumped from that pond. (The current berms have to be moved as well, allowing us more land.)

 

image (9)_r.jpg

 

IMG_1986_r.jpg

 

 

If so, could you have dug the new pond and filled it with water and fish from the old pond and then used the dirt from the new pond to fill the old pond?
 
No. No where to store the water that was pumped out. If we had a tank for storage? Sure. 
 
I agree. It was a lot of work. 53 - 6 cubic meter trucks filled in a hole, rather than having been used to raise up a large area of rice fields, one meter higher. Now, we still have to raise other land up.  
Edited by Paul
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andy

Well done Paul. Like it, like it too much. What a first class project.

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Parrothead

Well done Paul. Like it, like it too much. What a first class project.

 

Thanks, man. I am doing it for Chan, really, more than me. She deserves to have a place she can live in, after I am gone. She has been good to me. Not to mention putting up with all my mess. (Read2Learn knows me personally. He can vouch for me there. LOL) 

 

We still have a long row to hoe, for sure. I may hire a couple of guys later this year, and rent a tamper machine or two, to speed up the process of the fill settling. I would like to have the second layer of fill done by about six months, and start on foundation construction by December / January. Just have to see how this year goes. So far, we have been able to save a little to get this started. 

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Parrothead
One thing I didn't make clear before. The dotted red line is where the berm should be moved to. I want to fill in all the land between the old pond and the "new" berm line, to bring it up to the same height as the property between the construction and the canal.
 
farm_layout.gif

 

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Read2Learn

 

 


Thanks, man. I am doing it for Chan, really, more than me. She deserves to have a place she can live in, after I am gone. She has been good to me. Not to mention putting up with all my mess. (Read2Learn knows me personally. He can vouch for me there. LOL) 

Dang it, now the cat is out of the bag and my reputation is ruined hehehehehehe, yes Paul has had more than his share of problems over they years, I hope all his problems are behind him now.

 

Now for Chan, she has to be a very special lady to put up with Paul, just the same as my lady has to be an angel to have put up with me for the years we have been together.  :drinks:

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