Understanding Soil Compaction When Laying a Proper Bed for Your Concrete Foundation

The construction sequence for your concrete foundation begins with doing away with the top soil and surface vegetation to provide enough room for anchoring the building in the grounds. After that, extensive excavation then follows, and the soil taken from one place are used to fill the voids in other sections on the site. For such soil to support the load of the building that you are setting up, it must be compacted to create a firm ground for the building's load. Here are some of the things that you need to know about soil compaction during site preparation:

Moisture Content of the Soil

Moisture has an important role in the quality of the compaction that you will achieve for your foundation. Dry soil in the construction site does not hold together quite well because of capillary tension. It causes the individual soil grains to form clumps that aren't broken down easily or compacted to high density. At the same time, soil with too much moisture does not compact well because the water shoves the particles away from each other, making it hard to maximise the density of the compaction. Before you commence the construction project, bring in a soil specialist to assess the moisture content of the soil. They will give you a recommendation of the amount of water that should be used per given area on your site.

Equipment Required By Your Workers

What equipment will you need to hire so that your workers can carry out the compaction successfully? Well, a range of compactors is available. You can go for rammers or "jumping jacks" that deliver high impact compaction force at a high frequency. They are ideal for confined areas as the machine delivers compaction force through repetitive up-down movement. Alternatively, you can opt for rolling compactors. They come in a variety of sizes as walk behind (ideal for small areas where light compaction is needed) or ride-on (for large-scale and intense compaction). For driveways where you want to lay asphalt, then rubber tires compactors are ideal for optimal strength of the driveway.

Testing the Quality of the Compaction

There are easy ways for you tell if the soil on your site has been well compacted before you start to lay the concrete. First, look out for cracks on the surface when a fully loaded dump track rides over the compacted surface. Alternatively, try to hammer a steel pin into the compacted surface. If you find it hard to drive the stake into the ground, then it has been well compacted.