How to find the right type of foundation engineer?

[Great_scot_selfbuild]

A seemingly simple task. I know I need a structural engineer with a Civil / Geotechnical specialism, who has experience in designing gabion walls. Any recommendations on how to sift the internet to avoid wasting lots of time?

 

I'm in Farnborough, Hampshire.

 

Summary of the task: Driveway traverses a slope, but we can't dig into it because of tree roots. The design recommendation we've had is to use Gabion baskets to build up the lower side to create a level driveway surface (rather than lots of layers of 'Cellweb'. I've spoken to an experienced engineer familiar with gabion baskets and confirmed they have done this for other jobs (car parks etc...) so it is possible, but they're at the other end of the country and recommended finding a local engineer (who highlighted that the term 'structural engineer' covers very wide range and so I need someone with the right sub-specialism).

 

Thanks in advance...

 

Dave

[ToughButterCup]

Tanners - did a superb job for us. 

[Great_scot_selfbuild]

13 hours ago, ToughButterCup said:

Tanners - did a superb job for us. 

@ToughButterCup Can you please elaborate? Was it for a similar task (gabion / driveway)? Can you share any details?

Thanks

[Conor]

What are you retaining and how high?

[Gus Potter]

Gabions can look great. You can creat a structural butress in them if you want to design an Arctitectural seating area for example..

 

The quality of construction matters. cheep infill and badly placed = less perfomance.. time taken to lay the stone.. like a dry stone wall can increase the service life. You can use decorative stone on the outside.. grow plants on them and so on. Great habitat for wildlife too once they age a bit.

 

The structural design concept is a little different in that you expect them to move about quite a lot unlike say a concrete retaining wall which can't move quite as much.. well you hope not!. These things move which makes them flexible and forgiving and so long as you recognise that you are off to a good start.

 

The presence of the trees makes the design more fun!

 

I think some of the keys to this are:

 

1/ You need good ground information.. soil properties, water tables and hydraulic gradients etc.

 

2/ A good detailed topographical survey so you can see just how much you need to retain, the slope of the ground and the location and type of trees / vegitation.

 

3/ A good idea from you as the Client about how you want to finish the driveway and how often you anticipate maintaining it. The retained soil may move about so if you have a tarmac drive it may crack.

 

4/ Available drainage paths for draining the soil.. but then you need to watch what happens to the trees if you take their water source away or make them compete harder for water.

 

You can do a lot to help yourself here (as you are doing) by trying to get your head around the things we need to know and importantly why.. to enable a design that meets your expectations economically and also in terms of later maintenance. If you can gather some of this info then it will help you find the right SE for you.

Edited Sunday at 19:46 by Gus Potter

[Iceverge]

4 hours ago, Gus Potter said:

Great habitat for wildlife too once they age a bit.

 

What a great observation. 

 

I'm going to have to concoct some project that requires gabions now....

[Great_scot_selfbuild]

20 hours ago, Conor said:

What are you retaining and how high?

@Conor see OP - we're looking to create a level surface for the driveway which traverses a sloped area of ground. The gabion's would be topped with a cellweb layer and finishing topping, providing a free-draining driveway so the roots/area under the driveway still get water to them.

[Great_scot_selfbuild]

7 hours ago, Gus Potter said:

Gabions can look great. You can creat a structural butress in them if you want to design an Arctitectural seating area for example..

 

The quality of construction matters. cheep infill and badly placed = less perfomance.. time taken to lay the stone.. like a dry stone wall can increase the service life. You can use decorative stone on the outside.. grow plants on them and so on. Great habitat for wildlife too once they age a bit.

 

The structural design concept is a little different in that you expect them to move about quite a lot unlike say a concrete retaining wall which can't move quite as much.. well you hope not!. These things move which makes them flexible and forgiving and so long as you recognise that you are off to a good start.

 

The presence of the trees makes the design more fun!

 

I think some of the keys to this are:

 

1/ You need good ground information.. soil properties, water tables and hydraulic gradients etc.

 

2/ A good detailed topographical survey so you can see just how much you need to retain, the slope of the ground and the location and type of trees / vegitation.

 

3/ A good idea from you as the Client about how you want to finish the driveway and how often you anticipate maintaining it. The retained soil may move about so if you have a tarmac drive it may crack.

 

4/ Available drainage paths for draining the soil.. but then you need to watch what happens to the trees if you take their water source away or make them compete harder for water.

 

You can do a lot to help yourself here (as you are doing) by trying to get your head around the things we need to know and importantly why.. to enable a design that meets your expectations economically and also in terms of later maintenance. If you can gather some of this info then it will help you find the right SE for you.

@Gus Potter Thanks - it's good to know we're on the right track (we have just had borehole samples taken, SPTs conducted and soil analysis to take place over the next couple of weeks. We have a detailed topo map and the driveway will be topped with a fittleworth stone finish.

 

Can you advise how to find the right type of SE for designing gabions? (this is the bit I'm struggling with atm)