Dam Construction

The pond is the result. The dam is the thing doing the work, and it is where most failures start. Water rarely leaks out of the middle of a tank — it goes under or through the embankment, or it cuts the spillway back until the structure gives.

We build earthen dams keyed into competent material, with a core trench cut down past the porous layer and backfilled with compacted clay. On Hill Country ground that step is not optional. Thin soil over fractured limestone will take whatever water you put on it unless the core is sealed properly, which is why a tank built the way you would build one on blackland simply does not hold here.

The spillway gets the same attention. It has to carry a storm without scouring back into the embankment, so it is sized for the catchment feeding it rather than for the pond it drains.

We repair dams as often as we build them. A tank that has gone shallow, seeps at the toe, or has a spillway eating backwards is usually worth reworking rather than abandoning — the hard part, which is the siting, was already done.

What’s included

• Core trench cut below the porous layer and backfilled with compacted clay
• Embankment keyed into competent material rather than piled on top of it
• Spillway sized for the catchment above, not the pond below
• Existing dams repaired — seepage, settlement, spillway erosion
• Silted tanks cleaned out and re-shaped while the dam is open
• Equipment access built before the work starts, not improvised during it