Pond safety cover from unistrut and threaded rods?

G

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As the title hopefully. explains, I'm trying to come up with a solution for a pond cover/mesh. This is to prevent my recently born child and his cousins from getting into danger in our garden ponds.Looking online it seems like the recommended max openings for mesh are 80mm x 80mm.

It'd be nice to have one of those beautiful bespoke covers commissioned but they cost a fortune so I thought I might be able to make something a little less glamorous but just as robust with some unistrut as the outer frame and threaded rods as the mesh across the middle with turnbuckles as necessary to tighten them. All stainless ofcourse for weather reasons.

I can find tensile strength of the different threaded rods online but can't find any info with regard to their strength on the side (ie if someone was to stand on them what would make them bend/snap).

If anyone can point me to that that would be v helpful. And any advice/thoughts on the idea are welcome.

Thanks.
 
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You could use same measure for bars of same spec steel of root diameter of the thread. Bending forces are going to depend on length from fulcrum point etc. If they're sensibly short (6"?) then 3/4" threads aren't going to go far. I'd consider tripping risk a bigger issue. Also consider how much the mesh would hold/displace if a child walked on it (Look at me! glug glug) or fell on it. Would it distort enough for their face to go in the water.

My personal approach would be a 4' picket fence around it. Looks nice (done right) and far easier/cheaper. And then educate educate educate.
 
Don't overthink it.
A pond near me has a simple wire grid on an angle iron frame fitted over it. It was an overground/planter style "box" pond.

In theatre people use this
https://www.thecablenet.net
although obviously indoors, but it shows how very thin material will support relatively heavy loads above a considerable drop.

I think many people in your case use concrete mesh, a couple of layers to minimise the holes?
 
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If you want something that looks half decent and does the job, spend the money on a proper heavy duty solution. How big is the pond, what sort of setting is it in?
Up to 3 m or so square you could use a frame of scaff tube to support tension wire mesh, larger than that and you'd want some intermediate tubes & possibly a centre prop or 2.
You could make your own tension grid with 4 or 6mm steel rope and a million dogs but you'd have to work hard to avoid any sharp edges
 
There's 3 ponds. V overgrown I know. Largest one is approx 2.5m x 1.8m but as you might be able to make out, they're all set into the ground on one side but with a built up wall on the other (it's a multi-level garden). And they're strange shapes.

I'd rather avoid a fence because of the multi level reqs round the perimeter, because having a mesh over the top is just peace of mind (if little un is anything like I was the fence would become climbing challenge #1), and also cos mesh provides better protection from herons - bonus!

Based on the above advice I'm now thinking something like:
https://www.ultimate-one.co.uk/green-pvc-welded-steel-mesh-1m-33m-75mm3-hole-355mm10swg-p-1283
Surely if it can be used as security fencing it must be pretty strong?

But I'm not sure what the outer frame holding the mesh would be...
DSC_0393a.jpg
DSC_0394a.jpg
DSC_0395a.jpg
 
Fairly small ponds. Could you maybe make use of one of those trampolines with the legs cut down as a cover?
 
Scaff tube frame laid on the ground and held down with marquee pegs. Use Kee clamps rather than scaff clips (they sit flat and no projecting bolts). Green wire fence or A1 mesh fixed to tube (fiddly but cheap method is wrap mesh round the tube, cut with 25mm spare, turn the cut ends over the top mesh so the tube is sitting in a pocket).
 
D

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