Duffus
Mechanical
- May 4, 2007
- 1
Hello to all,
My first time on this site. I am a retired mechanical eng with a life long passion for building. I have the necessary experience to carry out the following request. I am in Mexico and have property at the fall line of the mountains. The soil is black clay which is very plastic when wet. It will actually sort of "melt" into particle size pieces with the proper amount of water. During the dry season this soil will demonstrate very large shrinkage cracks. Some as wide as 3 inches at the surface. It leads to horizontal movements in all directions when seasonal conditions change. I am told that these soil conditions have been successfully remediated by using a combination of compacted sand and reinforced concrete mat for foundations. Alternating sand and concrete to allow the structure to"float" for lack of a better word. Much success in Africa apparently. Can't find much technical data directly referring to this issue. HELP!!
Doug Reno
My first time on this site. I am a retired mechanical eng with a life long passion for building. I have the necessary experience to carry out the following request. I am in Mexico and have property at the fall line of the mountains. The soil is black clay which is very plastic when wet. It will actually sort of "melt" into particle size pieces with the proper amount of water. During the dry season this soil will demonstrate very large shrinkage cracks. Some as wide as 3 inches at the surface. It leads to horizontal movements in all directions when seasonal conditions change. I am told that these soil conditions have been successfully remediated by using a combination of compacted sand and reinforced concrete mat for foundations. Alternating sand and concrete to allow the structure to"float" for lack of a better word. Much success in Africa apparently. Can't find much technical data directly referring to this issue. HELP!!
Doug Reno
