PIERCE
LAND
CLEARING
Killeen sits on the western side of Bell County where the prairie runs out into the Lampasas cut plain. Thinner soil, more rock, and a pond that needs building for it.
Sometimes on its own, often not. Killeen sits west of the blackland where soil gets shallower over limestone, so the test pit does the deciding rather than a soil map.
Killeen sits on the transition. East of town you are still in prairie soil with useful clay in it. West, toward Copperas Cove and the cut plain, the limestone rises and the soil over it gets shallow. Rock does not seal, and a basin cut into it will lose water.
That is why we dig a test pit before quoting. On this side of the county the difference between a straightforward dig and a job that needs a clay cap is not something you can see from the road, and it is a difference worth thousands.
Most Killeen properties have clay somewhere, often down in a draw where soil has collected. Where there is enough of it we excavate it, haul it to the basin, spread it in lifts and compact each one into a continuous seal. That is the affordable route to a pond that holds.
The dam gets the same discipline. A core trench keyed into sound ground, clay compacted in lifts, a spillway cut to grade. On thinner soil that work is slower and it is exactly what separates a pond from a wet patch.
Most people have never had a pond built and do not know what the week looks like. Here is the whole thing, from the first call to the day it starts holding water.
Text or call with pictures of the spot and what you have in mind. Because the price list is published, we can give you an honest range on the first call, then put a boot on the ground to firm it up.
We walk the ground with you, find where water already collects, and dig a test pit. On the western side of Bell County that pit is the basis of the whole quote: soil depth, whether there is clay worth hauling, and how the rock behaves.
You get one page with real numbers on it. Excavation, dam construction, spillway, transport, and any flagged contingency, all in plain terms. No allowances that balloon later, no asterisks doing heavy lifting.
Mobilization is usually measured in weeks, not months. The dozer and excavator arrive on a lowboy, we stage at the site, and from that morning the build runs continuously until the pond is done.
The dig itself runs two to five days on most builds. Topsoil is saved for the banks, the core trench goes in first, and the dam is built the slow, right way, in compacted layers rather than one loose push. You will see the pond take shape daily.
We do not leave until you have walked the finished pond with us. The dam, the spillway, the bank grades, the topsoil dressing, all of it inspected against what was promised, and corrected on the spot if it falls short.
Then you wait on weather. Clay has to be worked dry to compact into a proper seal, and on a capped basin that discipline is the difference between a pond and a slow leak.
Published, not hidden behind a form. Prices and build times are based on 6 feet of depth at center with a 4:1 bank.
| Pond Size | Starting Price at 6 ft depth, 4:1 bank | Build Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 acre | from $12,300 | 2 to 3 days |
| 1/2 acre | from $19,200 | 3 to 4 days |
| 3/4 acre | from $23,300 | 4 to 5 days |
| 1 acre | from $27,000 | 5 to 6 days |
| 1 1/4 acre | from $30,400 | 6 to 7 days |
| 1 1/2 acre | from $33,800 | 7 to 8 days |
| 1 3/4 acre | from $36,800 | 8 to 9 days |
| 2 acre | from $39,500 | 9 to 10 days |
Prices are based on six feet of depth at centre with a 4:1 bank. Around Killeen expect the quote to address sealing. East toward Belton there is usually clay to work with; west toward Copperas Cove the rock comes up and the basin often needs a clay cap won on site. Either way it is priced before a machine moves.
Size it, tell us what to do with the dirt, then draw the pond right on a photo of your land. Your estimate comes back by email, along with a preview of the finished water.
We would rather explain the number before you sign than after. This is the whole anatomy of a pond quote.
The number includes the pond, whole and finished: design against the watershed, staking, topsoil stripped and banked, core trench, compacted-lift dam, cut spillway, finish-graded slopes, and dressed banks. Getting the iron to your gate and the closing walkthrough are in there too.
What moves the number on a Killeen job: how deep the soil goes before rock, whether the basin needs a clay cap, how much usable clay is on your own property, how far a lowboy can get in, and how much mesquite and cedar has to come out first.
Real ponds, real day counts, photographed on site.
The Gatesville build: dam work
Lampasas expansion work
Grading the dam, LampasasFull process, statewide services, and the build standard: our Texas pond construction page.
Most of the pond work around Killeen is on the acreage outside the city: five to forty acre places out toward Nolanville, Harker Heights and the county line. A pond on that kind of ground does several jobs at once. It waters stock, it catches runoff that was cutting a gully, and it gives a plain piece of prairie a centre.
Mesquite and cedar take anything that stops being grazed out here, and the low ground where a pond wants to sit is always the worst of it. We clear land as our main trade and build ponds with the same crew, so the brush comes out and the basin gets cut on one mobilisation and one bill.
West Bell County is not consistent ground. One property has three feet of workable clay and the next is into limestone at eighteen inches. That single test pit tells us which you have, whether there is clay worth hauling, and what the pond will really cost. It takes an hour and it costs you nothing.
Six feet at centre is where the chart starts and six feet holds water. In a hot Bell County August six feet also gets warm, low and green. Eight or nine keeps a cold layer at the bottom and carries the pond through a dry year. On thinner soil the achievable depth is whatever the rock allows, which the pit establishes first.
A new pond looks raw. Bare banks, cloudy water and a season before it settles. Get grass established before the first big rain and it clears faster and stops feeding silt back into itself.
On a capped pond the first dry stretch is the real test. A steady drop beyond normal evaporation is worth a call. Caught early it is usually a small repair; left a season it becomes draining and starting over.
If cattle drink from it, keep them off the dam. Hoof traffic on a dam face is the commonest way a sound pond becomes a leaking one. A fenced pond with a gravity trough below outlasts an open one by years.
You learn what a pond is worth in the third hot August. Six feet gets low, warm and green. Nine feet keeps a cold layer at the bottom and comes through it. Out here that difference is the whole argument for depth.
When the dirt work is done you can keep the same crew on the finish work. These four add-ons turn a new basin into a finished pond.
Bare banks wash, and thin soil washes fastest. We seed and mat the disturbed ground with a mix suited to Central Texas so the first storm does not undo the shaping.
Moving water stays cleaner. An aerator or fountain keeps oxygen through the column and holds algae back through a long hot summer.
A dock or a hardened approach turns a pond into somewhere you go. We shape and compact for one while the machines are still on site, which is far cheaper than bringing them back.
Fish want structure and depth before stocking. We leave brush piles, a drop off and a shelf while the basin is open, so the pond is built to hold fish before you put any in.
I cannot tell you how pleased I am with the work these guys did on my place. I have some very steep slopes and a lot of oaks and cedars. They used great judgement, not turning it into a field, using heavy machinery at a very fair price.
Ivan Allen, Google review
I would highly recommend Pierce Land Clearing. I mentioned to Bobby, our operator, that he was an artist. He took an overgrown piece of land and turned it into a beautiful landscape. He saw my vision and made it happen.
Monica Walker, Google review
We are really happy with the work Pierce Land Clearing did for us! They were quick to respond to our initial inquiry, gave a free estimate on the work we wanted done, and completed the work quickly. All the machine operators were very nice.
Jennifer Burrough, Google review
Learn these six and you can grade any pond quote you are handed, including ours.
The water level at the bottom of the spillway, the highest the pond is designed to hold day to day.
Where the dam dirt comes from. On a well designed pond it is the basin itself, so every yard dug does double duty.
One acre of water a foot deep, about 326,000 gallons. The unit that decides whether a stock pond needs a state permit.
Saving the living top layer before the dig and dressing it back over the banks after, so grass takes the first season.
Clay you can roll into a ribbon in your hand. The soil that seals a pond, and the first thing we look for on the walk.
Texan for a working pond built to water cattle. Usually smaller, always practical, and built with the same dam discipline.
We build ponds across Bell County and the cut plain west of it. A few of the places we work close to Killeen:
Pricing starts at $12,300 for a quarter acre at six feet with a 4:1 bank and runs to $39,500 for two acres, with an $8,000 minimum. On this side of Bell County you should allow for sealing on top, and the test pit tells us how much.
Sometimes on its own, often only with help. East of town there is usually clay to work with. West, on shallower soil over limestone, the basin generally needs a compacted clay cap. We dig a test pit before quoting so you get a real answer rather than an optimistic one.
We stop and tell you, then price the options. Cap the basin with clay won elsewhere on the property, move the pond to better ground, or line it. We will not dig a hole that cannot hold water and hand you the bill for it.
Usually. Mesquite and cedar take over any ground that is not grazed, and the pond site is always in the thick of it. Clearing land is our main trade, so the brush and the basin happen on one trip with one crew and one bill.
On your own rural land, generally no, and agricultural water storage is exempt from most regulation in Texas. It changes if the pond dams a defined watercourse or sits inside the Killeen city limit as part of a development. We will tell you what applies before anything starts.
Six feet at centre is the chart minimum and it holds. Eight or more is better if the pond has to survive a dry summer. Out here the practical limit is what the rock allows, and the test pit establishes that before we promise you a depth.
Around 34 inches a year, mostly spring and autumn. A chart sized pond on a decent catchment fills over one or two wet seasons. Thin soil over rock sheds water fast, which fills a pond quickly and also means the spillway has to be sized properly for it.
Yes, and out here it is a regular call. Usually the original basin was cut into rock without a cap. We drain it, find where it is losing, and either cap it with clay or line it. Often that costs less than the first build should have.
Tell us roughly how big you want the water and where you are thinking of putting it. We will walk the ground, dig a test pit and give you a written number that reflects what is actually under your grass.