Material From Pond Dredging

[DustyRusty]

My neighbor is having the pond dredged and they need a place to put the material. I offered to let them put it on an old abandoned road on the edge of my property. The dredging company said it will be about 2000 cubic yards of material in burlap bags. They said it will take about 6 months for it to dry out. I was thinking of putting it on a field that I have that has lots of very low spots to level the field once the material dries out. They told me that it is a combination of sand and organic material. Is there any downside to my allowing this material on my property? I will require that there be no hazardous material involved. Do you think that grass will grow in it once it is spread on the field? Will this material turn to mud when it gets wet? thanks

 

[JimmyJazz]

Call your local Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. They know all about this type of thing and offer their services free of charge. They may send someone out to look things over and provide some useful thoughts. Good luck.

 

[Flintknapper]

We had a Long Reach track-hoe go around the circumference of our fish pond (about 2 acres) removing about 2'-3' of the muck on the bottom for about 20' out.

They just spread it out on the shoreline. Yes, it made a layer of mud for awhile, but the grass DID grow up through it and in about 6 months you couldn't tell it was ever there.

I suppose it depends on the 'make up' of what they remove.

 

[AM28]

I claim no expertise, but my garden loved the muck out of my fishpond. I did Rototiller it in after I spread it out.

 

[jyoutz]

My neighbor is having the pond dredged and they need a place to put the material. I offered to let them put it on an old abandoned road on the edge of my property. The dredging company said it will be about 2000 cubic yards of material in burlap bags. They said it will take about 6 months for it to dry out. I was thinking of putting it on a field that I have that has lots of very low spots to level the field once the material dries out. They told me that it is a combination of sand and organic material. Is there any downside to my allowing this material on my property? I will require that there be no hazardous material involved. Do you think that grass will grow in it once it is spread on the field? Will this material turn to mud when it gets wet? thanks

That material should be very rich soil with lots of decomposed organic matter. I’d love to have it in my garden.

 

[mikester]

My neighbor is having the pond dredged and they need a place to put the material. I offered to let them put it on an old abandoned road on the edge of my property. The dredging company said it will be about 2000 cubic yards of material in burlap bags. They said it will take about 6 months for it to dry out. I was thinking of putting it on a field that I have that has lots of very low spots to level the field once the material dries out. They told me that it is a combination of sand and organic material. Is there any downside to my allowing this material on my property? I will require that there be no hazardous material involved. Do you think that grass will grow in it once it is spread on the field? Will this material turn to mud when it gets wet? thanks

I'd ask to see the "burlap bags" before anything was delivered. If they are using supersacks they are made from plastics and won't decompose.

First time I've ever heard of using burlap bags as dunnage for excavation/dredging fill.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

burlap will allow the water to drain out, and environmentally friendly !!
I can get 1,000s of them from local coffee redistribution company for free but have yet to think WHAT I could use them for.

Yes, much would be GREAT in any field or garden. Be interesting to see what seeds germinate though .....

Maybe once dry (next year), COMPOST the material(this KILLS the seeds ), then NEXT fall, spread onto your fields

 

[D2Cat]

If you want the material have them dump it from their trucks, no bags. Ask them to pay you at least what they were going to pay for the bags and cost of bagging, and they have a place handy to dump for no cost. I sure wouldn't want to deal with the bags even though the muck will spread over a wide area.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

The burlap bags will decompose within a year, especially when wet. OP has BX23S so can turn over the pile to help it decompose a lot faster.

 

[RCW]

Like mikester and D2Cat say I think the fill would be fine, but I wouldn’t want the bags.

2,000 yards is A LOT of material. Think 100 loads +/- .

A little bar napkin math, that’s enough fill to raise an acre over a foot. (54,000 cubic feet over 43,560 square feet).

Depending on size of your field, might be perfect to level it some.

But that’s a lot of bags…..

 

[The Evil Twin]

Sand and organic material are exactly what is spread as a top dressing on golf courses. Sand helps alleviate compaction. Nutrients from all that rotting material do wonders.
I would happily spread a layer on my lawn for free! Just cost me $700 for 38 tons of the stuff from the landscape supply.
Edit- just saw it is 2000 not 200. That is a metrich $h!t ton. You'll need a lot of seed to get greenery to grow.

 

[D2Cat]

If there is not a good layer of clay on the bottom of the pond a problem could be the pond no longer will hold water. It all depends on what equipment they use, depth of material removed.......

 

[DustyRusty]

They are going to be using a 6" pipe to pump the bottom of the pond to remove the sediment that has filled the pond for the last 50 years. The pipe will go a long distance till it gets to my land. In essence they are pumping the bottom of the pond through the pipe. The state has to first approve the project, so it might take a year or two before it is even started.
The pond is fed by a stream or small river. For decades the dam was located at the end of a large vee in the ledge that used to contain all the sediment that came downstream called the lagoon. Then about 35-40 years ago they built a dam at the entrance to the ledge vee lagoon and that skims the water from the top, so the sediment can't get washed out of the pond. It is a swimming hole for a camping area, and they want to dredge it out so it will be a swimming area again. I suggested that they break up the new dam and fix the one that was installed in the 1800s to power a sawmill. If they did that, the silt would naturally flow into the lagoon and in a few years the pond will be good again. They have the money to spend, and it doesn't matter to me.

 

[armylifer]

It sounds to me like there will be alot of silt in this. If so, the silt will compact unless you mix in alot of compostable material.

I got a lot of the same material for my wife's garden several years ago. The silty material compacted almost immediately after it dried out and it took me about 2 years to get enough compost mixed in to make the silt suitable for growing crops. I don't know if any grass would grow but several of our crops became root bound in the silt and would not grow for the first couple years until we were able to mitigate the soil enough with compost mixed in.

 

[The Evil Twin]

It sounds to me like there will be alot of silt in this. If so, the silt will compact unless you mix in alot of compostable material.

I got a lot of the same material for my wife's garden several years ago. The silty material compacted almost immediately after it dried out and it took me about 2 years to get enough compost mixed in to make the silt suitable for growing crops. I don't know if any grass would grow but several of our crops became root bound in the silt and would not grow for the first couple years until we were able to mitigate the soil enough with compost mixed in.

You have a point. It depends in the makeup of the silt. Some will compact. Some will not. Differs on where you are.

 

[hagrid]

Fish poo-poos.

 

[The Evil Twin]

Fish poo-poos.

And bodies if you are in NV.

 

[mikester]

They are going to be using a 6" pipe to pump the bottom of the pond to remove the sediment that has filled the pond for the last 50 years. The pipe will go a long distance till it gets to my land. In essence they are pumping the bottom of the pond through the pipe. The state has to first approve the project, so it might take a year or two before it is even started.
The pond is fed by a stream or small river. For decades the dam was located at the end of a large vee in the ledge that used to contain all the sediment that came downstream called the lagoon. Then about 35-40 years ago they built a dam at the entrance to the ledge vee lagoon and that skims the water from the top, so the sediment can't get washed out of the pond. It is a swimming hole for a camping area, and they want to dredge it out so it will be a swimming area again. I suggested that they break up the new dam and fix the one that was installed in the 1800s to power a sawmill. If they did that, the silt would naturally flow into the lagoon and in a few years the pond will be good again. They have the money to spend, and it doesn't matter to me.

Any idea on the dredging cost?