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[SlavesToArman]

I am following this guide (https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Damming) for how to dam a brook. However, when my dwarves start pumping, the designation to build a wall is "Blocked". The Z level of the pumping dwarves looks like this:

https://ibb.co/brXqVWj

The Z level below looks like

https://ibb.co/ZGMQjSD

where the red cursor indicates that I can't build a wall. I imagine that the water is blocking it? If so, what's the difference between my case and the one in the wiki link?

[FantasticDorf]

The flow is still coming at you too strong because alternating at 3 depth switches from shallow to "impassable" if not exactly deep, your channel might not be wide enough to actually offset the water approaching.

Stop for a moment, recalibrate and then dig out more surface for more pumps. Using windmills/watermills will also save you a considerable amount of dwarven labor in running the pumps given your closeness to water & the surface but the guide probably describes a set of circumstances where theirs was smaller than yours.

Edit - If you actually did it 1 ahead in the brook in the 5 space pushing into the 4 it'd probably work first time.

[Thisfox]

This really is a job for wind and watermills.

Have you got all the pumps pointed in the correct direction? I don't know from your tileset, but pumps are not unidirectional, and I've got them back to front on more than one embarrassing occasion.
 

[PatrikLundell]

You can only build something if the water level is at most 1/7 at the target site (dwarves can walk and dig in up to 3/7, but construction is restricted to 1/7). I would guess that the water level keeps fluctuating, so that at times it's deeper, at which time the building task will get suspended if a dorf tries to work on it. You can unsuspend the job, and eventually it will get done, as each tick spent constructing when there's not blocking amounts of water on the tile gets you a little bit closer to finishing the job (you can see the progress inching its way upwards as you repeat your construction attempts). I haven't dammed a river, but I've done a lot of heavy aquifer penetration, where the suspend/resume issue is a standard thing to deal with.

Thus, keep unsuspending the suspended job, and keep trying to designate construction jobs on the tiles you want your walls on (again, you can only designate the jobs if the water is at most 1/7).

[Halnoth]

I would dig more space out for pumps to help push more water out of the way. There is too much water past the pumps to deal with cancelation spam.

[SlavesToArman]

In response to your and other comments, I widened the aperture by one square so there are now six pumps pumping from south:

https://ibb.co/Ypj1yvs

However, the wall is still blocked even on 1/7 water:

https://ibb.co/Qn9ctTP

Is the issue the depth of the water or access to the build site? Note that it's not that the construction is repeatedly suspended. I can't even issue the designation.

P.S. The sooner the brook is dammed, the sooner Melbil Gasolmeng's horrifying corpse can be removed from my moat.

[Bumber]

I think you have to dig out the brook tiles before you can build on them.

[SlavesToArman]

In the end, it was the digging out of the brook that was the problem. I guess I still don't understand the materials science of DF. Who knew! The river has been drained, and Melbil's disgusting corpse has been laid to rest.