All Meshed Up

After the walls were built, the pond area was prepped with plastic sheeting, carpeting, more plastic and EPDM rubber. We knew that because of limited accessibility, we were going to have to stand in it while we were cementing it. To keep the mesh from poking through the liner while standing on it we put down more carpeting and then the metal mesh. 3-4 inches of concrete were troweled over the mesh.

Everybody Must Get Stoned

The pond receives the water via a 4 foot drop from the top pond. Looking down you can see the rocks and stones that were  embedded in the concrete to make it look a little "prettier". Past the pond a 9 inch falls leads to a   6 foot rapids (we put the "rapids" back in Grand Rapids); that drops about 14 inches and empties out a 3 foot falls to the river.

No Mas

Here's looking at the same area from the steps. We're sick of concrete by now (another ton of concrete, a ton of broken concrete, plus 1,000 lbs. of rock and stones ), we look forward to easier jobs next year. This was the last step in the system. We still have to landscape the terraces.

Falling Down

This is the view looking down from the falls into the midpond and rapids. The water dumps about a gallon a second when it's on full throttle.

The rapids were removed from the Grand River years ago. We thought it would be appropriate to put the Rapids back in Grand Rapids, Michigan.