How to obtain all these requested by contractors 1

[AAEC]

Our contractor that is designing a tank concrete foundation is asking these questions. Can you help me guide where and how to obtain their specific request (see below)? We don't have report and not planning to hire a geotechnical company at this point but maybe take sample to a soil laboratory and analyze the soil if this is what it takes to get the foundation design.

1. Site specific geotechnical request:
a. soil bearing capacity for normal loading and transient conditions
b. modulus of sub-grade reaction
c. matt foundation depth
d. lateral friction factor
e. backfill and its compaction requirement.
f. Settlement prediction for uniform, differential, short and long term.

 

[JedClampett]

I don't know where you are but I would invest the money and commission a Geotechnical Report. The going price for that information in the US is between $5000 and $10,000 (and possibly less)and is excellent insurance against problems (real and perceived). You'll blow way more money investigating one crack in a wall.
Actually, I commend the contractor for appreciating the information in these reports.

 

[Jalthi]

Agreed with JedClamett 100%. How can you proivde some technical information for the design, if you are not an expert in that field. If something goes wrong, you will realize how cheap $5000 the geotechnical consultant asked for.

 

[Ron]

First of all, you cannot answer those questions by taking a small soil sample down to your local testing lab and getting a few tests done. I agree completely with the others...GET A GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEER INVOLVED AND DO A PROPER GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATION.

I don't mean to be unkind here, but the contractor seems to know a lot more about this than you or your company...that's not a good situation to be in. In my opinion, those questions should have been answered before they were asked. I also commend your contractor for asking appropriate questions relevant to the foundation design.

 

[msquared48]

Agreed Ron...

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask

 

[cvg]

both yours and your contractor's insurance companies will likely not cover any foundation failures since you are not following the standard of care in the foundation design. That standard would require at the very minimum, a site visit, sampling and lab analysis and a report from a qualified engineer. Recommend you protect yourself / client also from future legal action.

 

[BigH]

I'm not sure I would consider your firm if I were a potential client - not knowing that a proper geotechnical investigation report by an experienced organization is essential . . . Mmmmmm. Where would the trust be?

 

[csd72]

Agree with the above.

I once read an army recruitment article that stated: " the first thing a good engineer does is ask a lot of questions" I suggest you remember this in the future as asking the right questions from the right people can sometimes be more important than the actual design.

A few references:

http://www.ecms.adelaide.edu.au/civeng/staff/pdf/AusGeo2000.pdf

http://www.fps.org.uk/fps/guidance/...ng themselves to unnecessary risk -july07.doc

http://www.geotechnics.co.uk/papers/Site_Investigation_Within_the_Development_Process.pdf

 

[fattdad]

First of all I agree with the need for a geotechnical engineering study to evaluate the answers to the contractor's questions. That said, if you hired a contractor to do design work and the questions from the contractor relate to the contractor's design effort, wouldn't the onus of getting the answers fall on the contractor? I mean your firm (single-discipline civil?) doesn't have the in-house expertise to do the design and likely doesn't have the expertise to properly hire the geotechnical firm to answer the questions from the designer.

Time for the volley to end. You can't expect proper design without this information. If the design proceeds without it, then it's not much of a design element to the contractor's service.

f-d

¡papá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!