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[lackofgrace]

so, for my fortress i need a moat. i have no river, but i have a underground river starting at z level 80 ( high up in a mountain )

i want to clog the pipe that travels 100 z levels to get water supply at base level.
when i started building i thought that i just could build floors or a bridge over the hole, but this wont work since i cant build in tiles that is filled with water.

im running linux so the tile editing cheat apps wont work, and i rather not use them in the first place either.

the ideas i have is to build a wall across the hole and then drop a natural block from above that will land on the wall thus blocking the pipe, but i think the wall would deconstruct

another option would be to mine another path for the river wich i controll ( like a spiral around the hole ), but that would be alot of digging ( since it is so many z levels )

so, does anyone have any experience with this, i can continue untill i have water for my obsidian factory

[rhubarb]

At the top of the hole, try pumping out the river faster than it fefills (lots of pumps), then build your floors while it's diverted.

[random51]

6-10 screwpumps upstream will allow you to put a dam in somewhere downstream from the pumps.

[Peewee]

"underground river starting at z level 80 (high up in a mountain)"
"pipe that travels 100 z levels"

Could you explain your set-up a little more clearly, please?

Natural walls (or obsidian walls, when made by cooling lava with water) don't "deconstruct" in collapses, so if everything else is right, your first plan should work.

[XSI]

You can route magma somewhere close to the shaft(Assuming you mean the pipe down into a chasm most underground rivers seem to have), the magma will form obsidian walls preferably just next to the drop. You can then fill up anything in the tunnel down in any way you want to, and then somehow remove the obsidian from the top.

As with most things, the solution is magma.

I hope I've interpreted it right.

[lackofgrace]

"underground river starting at z level 80 (high up in a mountain)"
"pipe that travels 100 z levels"

Could you explain your set-up a little more clearly, please?

80z levels up + 15 underground levels = 95 ( close to a hundred levels )


hmm
i thought about using magma ( that is always the first thing i think about ) but the pipe is located way to far away.

another thing i noticed is that the flow from the river isnt constant, maybe i could build hatches wich i directly link to lever and "remove" to keep water from flowing enabling me to build more hatches

[Retro]

How to dam an underground river using the cave-in method.

[kotekzot]

You could probably seal the chasm where the water from the river drops by building a bridge there.

[LordSlowpoke]

I had the same thing, an underground river dropping right into a bottomless pit.
What I did?
I casually dug unto the chasm, made a small bridge, proceeded to use that bridge as a mining platform, then tested the infamous "will water go up if it's at batshit insane pressure levels" myth.
...It does, but as soon as it hits the surface you have to recharge the said pressure.

[Scarpa]

I've done something similar, I dug out a few HUGE tree farms on the bottom levels of my map that I needed to feed from an underground river that drained nearby.

At the top of the river, about 10 z-levels up I built a waterwheel and line of pumps across the river. I used the pumps to divert the water to a chasm while I built retracting bridges across the drain at the tree farm levels. Once I was done I turned the water back on and was able to irrigate my farms by closing the bridges, blocking the drain and flooding the farm. Then when I was done I retracted the bridge and let it all drain. Worked like a charm, but flooding 5000 squares multiple times killed my FPS.

[Urist Imiknorris]

You could also "skim" the water that's draining into your moat with pumps. Basically you build pumps so that they pump the water into your moat as it falls.

[Chthonic]

If you're patient, you can seal off the chasm the river dumps into by re-enabling the canceled job every time the dwarf gives up.  If you're quick, the dwarf will dance back-and-forth between the canceled tile and the exit, completing the job a little bit more each time.  Tedious, but effective.

[XSI]

If you're patient, you can seal off the chasm the river dumps into by re-enabling the canceled job every time the dwarf gives up.  If you're quick, the dwarf will dance back-and-forth between the canceled tile and the exit, completing the job a little bit more each time.  Tedious, but effective.

While this works, I'd like to mention 2 things.

Firstly, it really helps to lock them in there, they won't try to run out and will be closer to their construction tile by the time you set it to continue building.

Secondly, if you're very unlucky or just plain doing it wrong your dwarves can be washed off their platforms by the water and..Well, it's a chasm under there, that's a long way down.

edit: That would be if you do it a single tile at a time.

[Chthonic]

Good caveat--I've definitely lost dwarves doing it.  It's a good job for soapmakers and milkers.

[expwnent]

Walls do not deconstruct when things are dropped on them in my experience. They only deconstruct if they themselves fall as a result of a cave-in.