8/7 The Pond Liner Is In!

The installation crew from Michigan was on onsite last Thursday morning at 7:00 a.m.to install the liner in our 1.6 acre irrigation pond. The weather was perfect and the project was completed by dark. It took Duininck two days to cap the liner with 12" of soil. We began filling the basin Monday morning and it should be close to full by Thursday or Friday. I have posted some pictures showing the liner installation process.

At this time the 12th green is the only green that is not built due to it's proximity to the irrigation pond and the work going on there. The tees are 90% roughed-in and many have been capped with sand/peat mix and laser-leveled. Irrigation installation is scheduled to be wrapped up by the third week of August. Head and lateral line installation is currently 65% complete. Bituminous Roadways was on site last week and began installing base material for the new cart paths. Some paving began yesterday on holes 14, 15, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8. As this whole renovation process nears completion, operations will move from the corners of the property towards the main entrance...essentially backing out of the property.

The sections of undisturbed turf in fairways 2, 3, 5, 14 and 15 have been sprayed with Roundup twice in preparation for seeding. The seeding process is anticipated to begin August 15 and finish by September 19.

Richard Mandell was on site this past Monday and Tuesday. He is pleased with the progress and excited about the end product. We spent most of his visit establishing grassing lines for the fairways, painting sand lines in the roughed-in bunkers and tweaking landscape features. He will return in 2-3 weeks.

Due to unstable soil conditions in the bottom of the pond, Duininck was forced to install this geomembrane over a section of the bottom. This fabric stabilized the area and allowed completion of final grading.

Final grading is nearing completion in this photo. The fabric is now covered with soil.

A trench is dug around the perimeter of the pond. The liner will be anchored in this trench.

Part of the liner installation crew attending to final prep and hand work.

The installation begins. This 20 mil PVC liner came in long rectangular sections. The overlapping seams are welded together in the field using a special heat-producing seam welding machine.

Progress through early afternoon.

Here is the process of installing a section of liner...

All the liner is in place by early evening. All seams are checked with compressed air to ensure there are no leaks. Note how the liner is laid in the perimeter trench and covered with soil, anchoring it in place. Final water level will be 6-12" below the trench.

A boot of PVC material is glued in place wherever pipes enter the pond.

Duininck begins spreading the 12" cap. Note the spotter in front looking for sharp objects that could puncture the liner. The cap is necessary to prevent the UV light from degrading the PVC material.

The capping process is complete.

The filling process began Monday morning. Rip rap and plastic sheeting were installed beneath the fill pipe to minimize erosion of the cap material.

The view on Tuesday morning.

Workers re-position rip rap and plastic sheeting.

The view on Tuesday late afternoon. As of Wednesday morning we have pumped 2.75 million gallons of water into the pond. We estimate the pond will hold close to 5 million gallons and provide us with a 7-10 supply of water during mid-season growing conditions.