Based in Pleasanton, TX · serving San Antonio and about 50 miles around the city
Excavation · Demolition · Free Estimates (253) 606-9497
Global Contractors LLC
Our Services

Pond Construction in San Antonio, TX

Pond Construction · San Antonio, TX

Stock tanks, ranch ponds and detention ponds dug and shaped

A pond is a hole that has to hold water. Pond construction starts with what is under your site. Dig in the wrong ground and the water drains away. We dig stock tanks, ranch ponds and detention ponds across San Antonio and about 50 miles around the city.

Global Contractors LLC has run excavation and sitework jobs since 2006. The same excavators and dump trucks that handle excavation work in San Antonio shape a pond basin, build a dam and cut a spillway. Dirt that comes out of the hole gets used on your land or hauled off. Call (253) 606-9497 and we will come look at the site.

What We Handle

  • Stock tanks and ranch ponds dug on pasture and rural acreage
  • Detention and retention ponds shaped to the engineer's plan on commercial sites
  • Wildlife and fishing ponds on ranch and hunting tracts
  • Dams built up in thin layers and compacted as they come up
  • Clay cutoff trenched in under the dam where the ground calls for it
  • Spillways cut and shaped so a hard rain runs around the dam
  • Silted stock tanks cleaned back out with the excavator and taken down to depth
  • Free estimates, with a written price after we look at the ground

Free Pond Construction Quote

Tell us about the job. We will get right back to you.

Will a pond hold water in South Texas ground?

Soil decides it. Texas A and M AgriLife Extension rates a pond site on the top 60 inches of ground. Soil that passes water faster than two inches an hour gets a severe seepage rating. Clay is what holds a pond. Loose sand and gravel lets it out the bottom.

The ground changes fast around here. North and west of San Antonio you hit limestone and thin soil, and fractured rock is hard to seal. East and south of the city the Blackland Prairie clay runs deep, which is good pond ground. South toward Pleasanton the surface is often sandy loam sitting over a clay subsoil.

That same Extension publication warns about a thin sand or gravel lens. One layer like that drains a basin even when the rest of the soil is tight. So we dig test holes before anybody prices the job. If the ground is too coarse, clay spread and compacted over the whole basin is the fix.

Stock Tank Digging and Pond Excavation on Ranch Land

Stock tanks are the everyday pond out here. A landowner wants water for cattle, a place deer will come to, and something to fish. Most tanks sit in a low draw where runoff already collects. We shape the basin, build a dam across the low end and set the spillway.

The dam is the part that fails when it is built wrong. USDA pond design guidance calls for a cutoff trench along the centerline of the dam. It gets dug down into the tight layer below and carried up both ends. Clay backfill goes in there in thin layers and gets compacted as it comes up. Stumps, roots and loose grass stay out of the fill.

The spillway carries a storm around the dam so the water never tops it. USDA guidance says a well-built dam can still be lost in the first severe storm if the spillway is too small. Dirt from the basin usually stays on the property, worked into the bank or spread with grading and fill work.

Detention Pond and Retention Pond Construction for Commercial Sites

A commercial site has to do something with its stormwater. A detention pond holds runoff and lets it back out slowly through an outlet. A retention pond keeps a pool in it year round. The engineer's plan and the local rules set which one you build and how big it has to be.

We build to the drawings and the grades on them. The basin gets cut, the slopes get shaped, and the outlet area is prepared for the pipe. A detention basin usually lands in the middle of a bigger job, so it runs alongside site preparation and the building pads.

Raw tracts need the brush off first. We clear the basin footprint, then start digging. If the ground is grown up in mesquite and huisache, land clearing is the first pass and the pond follows it.

Finished ranch pond with a windmill and live oaks on the bank Excavator working from the bank to clean silt out of a pond

Ready to get started?

Free estimates and site visits across San Antonio and about 50 miles around the city.

(253) 606-9497
How We Work

How a Job With Global Contractors Runs

From the first call to the final grade, here is how it goes.

1

You call

Call (253) 606-9497 and tell us what the site needs: a lot cleared, a house down, a pad built. We ask enough questions to know what machines the job takes.

2

We look at the site

We drive out and read the ground: access, slope, trees, utilities, what is standing and where the dirt can go. On a build we go through the plans with you.

3

You get a written estimate

The scope and the price go in writing, broken out so you can see each part of the job. Estimates are free, and so is the site visit.

4

We do the work

Permits and utility locates come first where they apply, including the Texas 811 call before anyone digs. Then the excavators, the trucks and the mulcher go to work.

5

The finish

Spoils get hauled off or spread on site, and the ground is graded before we pull off. We go over the finished job with you while the equipment is still there.

FAQ

Pond Construction Questions, Answered

Common questions about pond construction across San Antonio and about 50 miles around the city. If yours is not here, call and ask.

Call (253) 606-9497

How much does it cost to build a pond?
Size and depth set most of it. After that it is the ground, the haul for the spoils, and how easy the site is to get into. A pond that needs a clay blanket or a deep cutoff trench takes more work than one dug in good clay. We look at the site first and the estimate is free.
Do I need a permit to build a pond in Texas?
Texas Water Code Section 11.142 lets a landowner build a dam or reservoir on their own property with no water-right permit. The cap is 200 acre-feet of normal storage for domestic and livestock use. The statute says that exemption does not cover a commercial operation, and it settles the water right only. A pond dug in a creek or a wet area can still need a Clean Water Act Section 404 look from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, so check first.
Why does a pond leak, and can it be fixed?
AgriLife Extension puts most leaking ponds down to a site with high soil permeability. A thin sand or gravel lens under the basin will do it on its own. Compaction helps where the soil is well graded. Where it is too coarse, a compacted clay blanket over the basin is the fix.
Can you clean out a stock tank that has silted in?
Yes, and that is excavator work. We pull the silt out, take the tank back down to depth, and rebuild the washed bank. Wet silt has to dry before it will move, so a dry stretch of weather speeds the job up.
How long does it take to dig a pond?
A small stock tank in good clay can be a few days. A larger pond with a dam, a cutoff trench and a shaped spillway runs longer. Rock, wet ground and a long haul for the spoils all stretch it out. You get a real window once we have seen the site.
What happens to all the dirt you dig out?
Most of it stays on your place. The best clay goes into the dam and the cutoff trench. The rest gets spread to raise low spots or build up a pad. When there is more dirt than the land needs, dump truck hauling takes it off.
More From Global Contractors LLC

Work That Pairs With Pond Construction

Track loader dumping a bucket of fill dirt while grading a lot

Dirt Work

Dirt work across San Antonio and about 50 miles around the city. We level and grade land, bring in fill dirt, build pads and fix low spots that hold water.

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Compact track loader clearing brush on a hill country lot with cedar and live oak

Land Clearing

Land clearing services for lots, acreage and ranch land around San Antonio. We clear brush, mesquite, cedar, trees and stumps with excavators, skid steers and a forestry mulcher.

Learn More
Tri-axle dump truck with its bed raised, dumping a load of dirt

Hauling

Dump truck services across San Antonio and about 50 miles around the city. We haul spoils and debris off jobs and deliver fill dirt, caliche, base and gravel by the load.

Learn More
Why Choose Global Contractors LLC

Built for Excavation and Demolition Across San Antonio

Sitework since 2006

Global Contractors has been on commercial and government job sites since 2006, from airport excavation to county and school projects. That background comes with us on a single driveway or a full development site.

Excavators, trucks and a mulcher

Excavators with thumbs and demolition attachments, dump trucks, skid steers and a forestry mulcher. The machines and the trucks are ours, so one call covers the equipment the job takes.

One contractor from clearing to final grade

Clearing, demolition, excavation, utility trenching, hauling and the finish grade run under one scope. That keeps the job on one schedule with one number to call.

Free estimate, written quote

Call and we come up from the Pleasanton yard to look at the job. The estimate is free and the quote reaches you in writing, with the scope spelled out.

Free Estimates

Get In Touch With Global Contractors LLC

Tell us where the property is and what needs to happen: a lot cleared, a slab out, a pad built. Call (253) 606-9497 or send the form, and we will line up a time to come look.

  • (253) 606-9497
  • Pleasanton, TX · serving San Antonio and about 50 miles around the city
  • Free estimates · excavation, demolition, clearing, site work and hauling

Get a Free Quote

Tell us about the job. We will get right back to you.