Covering a rainwater soakaway?? - Soakaway discovered building sunken pond

[Psyman]

Hi - hope someone can help please?

I'm planning to build a part raised / part sunken pond in my garden, lined by concrete blocks (limited budget!)

Anyhow I had almost finished digging the hole when I discovered a rainwater soakaway in one corner (at first I thought it may be something grim under the blue plastic sheet and was relieved to find it was only rubble!)

I was planning to have a poured concrete base over the pond liner anyway, but now am worried about the implications of permanently covering the soakaway.

Is there any likelihood that I'll need to access it at some point in the future?

If it is OK to cover it, presumably a raft of concrete over the top should be OK (I might even include a mesh to be on the safe side) before laying the liner (+ underlay / overlay) and another layer of concrete over that?

I suspect someone will suggest moving the soakaway but this would be a big job for me (digging the pond hole was bad enough!)

All I'm really after is some reassurance that covering it won't cause me a huge headache later on!

Thanks all - appreciate any comments / advice you may have!

Psyman

[dig dug dan]

I had a similar problem back in 2006 when i had to install a sunken hottub. Got down so far and hit a soakaway.. we just concreted over it, and had the hot tub out the ground slightly. not a problem for the customer, and the soakaway is still performing well.

[Tony McC]

Would it be possible to cover the soakaway but provide alternative inspection access, via, for example, a 45° pipe linked to a rodding eye?