Have any of you built a berm or had one in your yard when you moved in to your home? If you have, could you tell me what you did to build it and how long it took you to build it. Also, what plants did you put on it?

No photos but I have added berms at two properties.
Berms can be many different sizes and for many different reasons. Can you post photos of the area where you are considering adding a berm? That might help us to visualize. Also, are you creating the berm to control water flow or for privacy or some other reason.

I can tell you what doesn't work...
In Macon Georgia, some peeps I know had some "top soil" dumped in piles in the yard.

Unfortunately, "top soil" in my area is actually nuthin but wet sand... completely useless.

When I showed up to help them in their yard, I convinced them to find another use for the sand... as it wasn't working for them.

There is still one pile that didn't get re-purposed, and as it gets a lot more watering... the Malvaviscus arboreus is actually growing quite well on that berm.

Please tell us what you are trying to accomplish...
hide the road? lessen the street sounds?

or just want a pile of soil?

I don't have photos, but my parents lived on a busy street so they made a 6 ft high berm of soil and rocks and planted white, pink and red Oleanders on top. They grew quickly, and got very thick so they had complete privacy for years, until the city widened the road and they had to come out!

When I sit on my sofa and look out the window, there is a small section of the yard where I can see the road and see cars go by. I was just thinking about it and wondering if people could give me some tips, etc on creating one. Wow, @plantmanager, that seems like it would take a lot of soil to create one of 6 ft.

It was a lot dirt! They bought truckloads of topsoil and had it dumped in the right place. They smoothed it out, watered it down, and planted it about 2 weeks later. It worked really well! That would be a good thing for you, or you could just plant some fast growing trees. We needed quick shade for our home on the west wall, so we put in Eucalyptus trees. They grew fast and gave us shade, but they turned out to be super messy. They drop leaves all year and drop their bark too. If you go for something fast growing, check it out well! We didn't know what we were in for!