"Gail Futoran" wrote in message
...
"NetMax" wrote in message
.. .
I live on the side of a mountain, so one day I might weir my snowmelt
creek to make a pond, but the downside is that it would get flushed
routinely (snowmelt, rainfall etc). In the meantime, I live
vicariously through my friend's pond, a modest 50,000g construction
;~). Every year they invent a new roof, and they are not getting
better at it. This year's pond roof was grey PVC poles, spaced at
about 6 feet, connected together to make a large oval roof structure,
then covered by a plastic sheet. Inside, they occasionally run a
gas-fired campfire, and it's quite pleasantly mild inside (tall enough
to walk around the pond).

It looked great, well... it technically looked very functional, like a
white carport for a Sherman tank in your backyard ;~). However,
winter here (Ottawa Canada) has become milder, resulting in freezing
rain conditions. Their roof collapsed 4 times this year (was removed
in Feb. after the last time). They have asked me to help design next
year's roof. The criteria is that it be completely removable and
easily stored in the summer.

Structurally, it would benefit from 1 (or even 3) centre posts, but
these posts would be above the pond. I've been thinking of a floating
barge-type structure (wood and styrofoam), anchored by rope to 4 sides
of the pond. This would be the base of the centre pole. I would
re-use their grey pvc pole idea (economical and breaks down easily for
storage), but I need to tie them to each other (during ice load, they
slid together, and leaned over). Perhaps metal rings and ropes? It's
difficult to access them when they are up.

Alternately, some sort of an inflatable structure in a dark color, so
if there is an ice sheet, it will melt off faster.

Could someone send me some links or ideas. I heard this was a good
place for pond information again ;~).
--
www.NetMax.tk

I'm not sure from your description how big
the cover needs to be, or exactly its purpose,
but I immediately thought of a shade sail:
http://www.shadesails.com/

They would seem to be adaptable to most
conditions you're describing, although it's
less like an enclosure than you describe.

I use a gazebo with canvas-like cover over
my little pond, but a 10' x 10' structure
probably isn't big enough for your friend's
"lake":
www.academy.com
Keyword search on Gazebo. They show
quite a few different varieties. Academy
is a local (TX) sporting goods store but
these gazebos should be available at
home improvement stores and the like.
The 10'x10' basic models run about US$100,
which is half what I paid for mine a few
years ago. The cover attaches with velcro
and is exceedingly easy to remove when
thunderstorms threaten.

I would have preferred a shade sail if I'd
known about them before I purchased
the gazebo.

Gail
near San Antonio TX USA Zone 8


Thanks Gail, the structure dimensions are 25' long and the ends would be
20' and 25' (or 25'x25'). Home Depot & Canadian Tire may have adaptable
designs, but they would be better off researching direct from the
manufacturer to avoid the ridiculous mark-up, but they haven't found the
manufacturer.

My volume calculation must have been wrong (metric?), as I think they are
closer to 15,000g (I'm not used to volume calculations of this scale, my
bad). Their pond is 6' deep and surface is 16' x 20'.
--
www.NetMax.tk