04/10/2026
Phase 4 | The Stone Goes In
We left Phase 3 with the pumps still running and groundwater still pushing up from the bottom of the core trench. That problem doesn’t go away and you have to build through it.
The answer is stone. Groundwater moves through rock freely, pressure doesn’t build beneath it, and it holds its integrity in wet conditions. Clay does none of those things. Put clay in a wet trench and it won’t compact, won’t bond, and will never meet the structural requirements this dam demands. So before a single lift of clay goes down, the foundation has to be established with stone.
Number 1 and surge stone goes in first. Large rock laid across the bottom of the core trench to bridge the soft spots and give us a stable platform above the water. Then we come back with number 3 stone to fill every void between the 1s and surge.That’s what you’re seeing in this shot, the articulated dump truck dropping number 3s into the trench. The 3s pack into the gaps and lock the whole foundation together into one dense, interlocked, draining layer. The water keeps moving through and out. The foundation stays solid.
Once that stone is set and approved, we transition to clay and start building up.
The stone solves the groundwater problem. Everything above it depends on getting this right.
