Ground conditions · Uncontrolled Fill
Uncontrolled Fill
Older Florida sites are frequently built on fill placed decades ago with no compaction record and no control over what went in. It may be excellent or it may contain a buried structure.
Send the geotechnical report and the site plan. You get a written read on the water, the excavation and the risk.
Self-perform
Dewatering and support of excavation, in house
Tidal
Deep foundations in tidal environments
Licensed
General contractor, licensed in the state of Florida
Water
The variable that decides the schedule in Florida
The unknown is the hazard
Uncontrolled fill is not necessarily bad material — it is unknown material, and unknown means unquantifiable. It may contain construction debris, organic pockets, old foundations or buried tanks. The variability across a single site is often greater than the difference between two different sites.
How it gets handled
- Test pits as well as borings — a boring can miss a slab by a foot.
- Historical review, because the previous use predicts what is buried.
- Removal and re-compaction where depth allows.
- Deep foundations through it where it does not.
- Contingency for obstructions, because they are likely rather than possible.
How we handle it
- 01Review historical aerials and permit records for previous use.
- 02Test pits to see the material rather than sample it.
- 03Quantify depth and variability across the whole footprint.
- 04Price obstruction removal as a stated allowance.
- 05Compaction testing on any replaced fill.
Old aerial photographs are one of the most cost-effective investigation tools available and almost nobody uses them. Twenty minutes with historical imagery frequently explains what the borings found and predicts what the excavator will hit.
FAQ
Common questions
- Can we build on old fill?
- Sometimes, after testing. Often it is removed and re-compacted, or bridged with piles.
- Why test pits rather than borings?
- A boring is a two-inch sample. A test pit shows you the material and the obstructions in it.
- What are we likely to find?
- Construction debris, old foundations, organic pockets, occasionally tanks. Historical records narrow it down.
- Should obstructions be an allowance?
- Yes. On uncontrolled fill they are likely, not possible, and a fixed price without an allowance is a change order waiting to happen.
Capabilities
Construction Dewatering
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Support of Excavation
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Sheet Piling
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Secant & Slurry Walls
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Auger Cast Piles
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Helical Piles
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Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.