Compacting fill before concrete

[Ironhorse74]

I have approximately four feet of fill in one corner of the new shop. The holes for the poles will be bored through the fill and four feet into virgin soil. My concern is pouring concrete on top of the fill. Is there anything I can do before construction starts to help with compaction? I am thinking of running a sprinkler there.

Bummer having a problem uploading pictures to an album. Just imagine four feet of dirt.

Brad

 

[Leoruiz]

Call the company you're buying the concrete from. They'll send a field engineer over(free). It's what they do..every day...all day.He'll tell you EXACTLY what to do and it will meet whatever county you're in's requirements or likely far better. These dudes are pro's.

 

[Ironhorse74]

Call the company you're buying the concrete from. They'll send a field engineer over(free). It's what they do..every day...all day.He'll tell you EXACTLY what to do and it will meet whatever county you're in's requirements or likely far better. These dudes are pro's.

Thanks Leoruiz

 

[Ballistic Jello]

The general contractor we wire houses for pours their garage floors after all rough-in inspections are done, before that they run a hose nonstop for a day or two. Settles around the foundation walls up to four feet sometimes. Takes a while to dry out though. After that you could use a jumping jack, and add lots of clean rock for drainage.

 

[matt_i]

I think both the compactor and the water can work together. However you need time to do this right. A builder generally does not have that built into their timetable as they need to work every day to take on many jobs.

I'd compact in 6" lifts with either a plate compactor or the jumping jack. Then water it (flood it) thoroughly and wait for it to drain, my sympathies if its pure clay as it will be pure squidge for awhile. Something like a box fan can help dry the surface after the water has had a chance to perk down.

 

[rustyjames]

Depending on the fill you could do up to 6" lifts with a plate tamper, or 8-12" with a jumping jack. Don't add any water if you're using the jumping jack.

 

[Rookie2]

I would not use water ,takes a long time to disperse no mater what anyone tells you . Water is liquid and takes up space in the soil. remove the fill and compact as you replace it in lifts. Compact it till you run out of time or money !

 

[Flatland Dave]

How was the fill put in? layers or all at once?

 

[Leoruiz]

Thanks Leoruiz

You're welcome man. Utilize your resources. I see guys here asking for advice on paint and welding stuff etc etc.
Download Skype and call tech supports direct.These companies are multi-million dollar outfits. Their engineering departments are top notch.
I spent an hour on the phone with a dude at Lincoln Electric yesterday. Great guy and an entire library of knowledge. 60 something. Old school iron worker and had a race car shop in Indiana building circle jerk and drag car cages and stuff.
My question had to do with TIG and chrome moly and some stainless tubing. Man. I got the right guy to chat with ! That's fo sho !
Waiting on a helium mix to be delivered now.Dude told me to take pics and send them if I had any problems.Folks like that keep us at #1.........in certain areas anyways....

 

[Pitt Grease Monkey]

I agree with Leo 100%. Utilize the resources available to you (the concrete supplier's engineers).

That said, the general guidelines given are good ones.

6" lifts maximum, then compact with a jumping jack.

On the subject of water. Your profile says Pacific North Wet (typo?) so my assumption is your soil already has some moisture in it (not sandy/dusty or dry). If this is true I would advise against adding any more water. As I'm sure you know, water is incompressible. Having too much moisture content will result in your soil being incompressible to a degree as well. This works in direct opposition to your goal of compacting the soil.

 

[Ironhorse74]

How was the fill put in? layers or all at once?

It was done with a bulldozer over the course of couple of days.

Brad

 

[Ironhorse74]

I agree with Leo 100%.
On the subject of water. Your profile says Pacific North Wet (typo?) so my assumption is your soil already has some moisture in it (not sandy/dusty or dry). /QUOTE]

No not a typo my attempt at some humor. We are in the middle of a drought. Hasn't rained since May. The dirt is as dry as a popcorn fart.

Brad

 

[Angelfire]

It's all going to depend on your soil type, moisture levels, etc...use your local resources to get a better insight.

That being said, here's what I did. I live in a sandy climate that is DRY. We overexcavated then backfilled in lifts (around 4" IIRC might have been 6"). Wet the soil but not flooded. Compacted. Repeat until you get to finish height. As a final check I had an engineering company come out and do compaction tests. I was adding on to my home and wanted to make sure it was done right. Since I was building my detached garage at the same time, it got the same treatment.

If you simply lumped 4' of soil into a corner and drove over it with a bulldozer, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with how it's going to hold up. Again, it's going to depend a lot on your local conditions.
Cheers.