How long would this take? Berm construction & excavation

[waterfowlist]

I am in the planning stages of building a berm around the perimeter of a 3.5 acre piece of land so I can flood it for waterfowl habitat. Average flooded depth will be 12 inches. The berm specs I have come up with are 10 feet wide at the bottom, 2 ft. wide at the top, and 2.5 feet high. That gives me a need for about 1087 cubic yards of fill I believe? My plan is to excavate .33 acres 2 feet deep to get that amount of fill and then begin shaping the berm. (excavate inside the area that have the berm around it). Now my question is how long would something like this take to construct. I dunno if it would take hours,weeks, days, or months. I am not familiar with moving dirt and these types of protects, but I figured you would be the guys to ask! Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[eric12]

What are you planning on using to move the dirt? And are you doing it yourself or with a handful of people? or hiring it out? Those would make a big difference.

 

[waterfowlist]

I have access to a bobcat. The plan is to find a few family friends that have experience running equipment I think he has a dozer or a backhoe and is experienced. I could rent equipment from a place in town if we need something I can get access too. The plan is to do it as cheap as possible. I know a large excavator could not access this area as it is to wide and tall as the road is narrow and has a low tree canopy. So what would it be like if it was 1 bobcat, and 1 backhoe and 1 dozer? or what equipment would be practical?

 

[eric12]

Is the soil even capable of holding water? and whats your plan to fill it/ keep it full? the bobcat could do it if you have a whole lot of spare time, and it would help if someone came with a tractor to break up the dirt first so its easier with the bobcat. the dozer would be preferred and depending on the size of the machine and how wet the soil it is you could get it done pretty quick with the right sized machine. The backhoe would be okay for little parts of it maybe, but the dozer would be the way to go. As long as you don't care where the dirt is dug up from it could be done in probably 2 days depending on conditions and the machine or machines used. if you were to doze a berm around where you want it and take the dirt from just inside the berm it shouldn't be too bad but if you plan on only digging in one .33 acre area you'll want a truck to move the dirt over a 3.5 acre lot, or push with the dozer a pretty far distance and plan on it taking a lot more time.

 

[waterfowlist]

Yes I believe the soil will hold water. There are several small bodies of water in the immediate area(within 50 yards). I am going to pump it in or possibly a gravity feed via pipe from a lake that is 170 feet away. I am hoping the little over a foot drop from the water source to the impoundment is enough because then I could use the gravity feed and save money on gas and a pump. The area is currently a stand of bulrushes so the soil is moist but not muddy. It dries out a little bit in the middle of summer. I know we wouldnt be able to get a large truck in this area to haul dirt, but we could make two .165 acre holes at each end so the dirt wouldn't have to be pushed as far? It needs to be dug rather than scraped from the existing grade other wise the elevation inside the impoundment will be lower than the drainage area and we would have to pump the water out instead of letting it just flow out. The water source is at the highest point (1 foot above the impoundment), the end of the impoundment where the drain is is about 1 foot higher than the drainage ditch that will lead to another lake.

 

[outlaw38]

I don't know but Ducks Unlimited paid someone to do 35 acres of mine for duck wetlands. Didn't cost me a dime.