Piling nightmare

[saveasteading]

13 hours ago, Alan Ambrose said:

they have to go less deep than they thought 

Yes. It is plus and minus. But the quote will be a fixed sum for turning up and all the design and management, plus a sum per pile unit, so the + and- for depth are not the whole story, and are based on the actual cost of time and materials.

[Jodie]

Thanks again Gus. I really appreciate your advice.

The builder is the owner, he’s building to sell.

We had our foundations vibro compacted. It was done in a few hours and been perfect for 21 years up to now.

 

[ToughButterCup]

7 hours ago, Jodie said:

....

We had our foundations vibro compacted. It was done in a few hours and been perfect for 21 years up to now.

 

That's what we did.

52 columns, took a day from start to finish. Since that process is quicker and cheaper, and there's far less vibration, it begs the question - why not ?

[saveasteading]

2 hours ago, ToughButterCup said:

begs the question - why not ?

Not always suitable.

Some designers don't know about it or they don't know the advantages.

Little piling companies only do what they do.

 

One of the unsung advantages is the absence of the filthy mess made when soil is removed by driven or auger piles.

[ToughButterCup]

3 hours ago, saveasteading said:

...

One of the unsung advantages [of vibro compacted columns ]  is the absence of the filthy mess made when soil is removed by driven or auger piles.

Here's another ....

 

I found that the compacted columns of stone act as soakaways.....

I couldn't believe it when - by accident - I left a hose running above a partially exposed column. The water just disappeared . I think the column was about 5m deep and about 400mm wide.

[saveasteading]

12 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

columns of stone act as soakaways.....

And undermined the ground below, which tends to be loose. OK by accident, not in quantity.

[ToughButterCup]

13 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

And undermined the ground below, which tends to be loose. OK by accident, not in quantity.

 

Ours is alluvial clay set (in parts) on a sandstone incursion.

My God the clay can stick to a digger shovel. I had to buy (have made) a proper clay spade . It was little more than a simple hook (no sides) and the hook bit of it looked like a sieve.

[saveasteading]

32 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

was little more than a simple hook (no sides) and the hook bit of it looked like a sieve.

Nope, I need a picture.

[ToughButterCup]

17 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Nope, I need a picture.

 

I'll try and find one.

I sold my digger with it's buckets to deserving couple of BuildHubbers a couple of years ago - and regretted it ever since...

 

This isn't the one, but it's close