A few projects I have done recently

[Oxbow]

As we are filling an area we always like to get the loaded trucks up on the fill lift not only to help with compaction but perform an unofficial proof roll each time. This will tell us how the fill is really being compacted as the nuke box can lie from time to time with bad data. A loaded 85K lb tri-axle rolling over a lift is like spandex and innocent children - none of them lie. Dirt tech observing.

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Pad finished out.

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Side note on this project. We had a GPS model built early on so we would have it ready when we started. GC had their surveyor come out to set us 5 control points, pretty standard procedure. Well not this time. The surveyor the GC hired could not calibrate the original surveyors control points - some were out 3-4 tenths horizontally and even worse 3-4 vertically.

Hired surveyor worked on it for 2-3 days and quit. After talking to him he said he was basically so busy with good paying work that he didn't want to be drug into a mess created by someone else and be liable. Can't argue with that.

So we had to resort to old school methods or rather the GC did. Our contracts state we need 5 control points provided by a licensed surveyor paid by the GC for our layout. Since the GC couldn't provide that we pushed it back on the GC to perform all layout.

Yeah it turned into a cluster...oh well.

Interesting and unfortunate.

One thing different with Earthworks than GCS900 is that the calibration file must be imported into the site and published to the project library, and then to the machine. I understand that it can be exported to the machine remotely, but we haven't tried that and just use a jump drive. With GCS900 we could have the design loaded and then just import the calibration file on site directly from our data collector. I now need to bring my laptop and go through Trimble Business Center.

Are you handling this the same way, or do you have a better method?

 

[Oxbow]

Nice looking work CM, and I agree; a loaded dump truck will find a bad spot. The nuke gauges are nice and way faster than the old cone and sand method if the proctor is good (probably dating myself there) especially for help with moisture content, but if you know your dirt you can pretty well tell where you're at from the way it lays out.

 

[CM1995]

Interesting and unfortunate.

One thing different with Earthworks than GCS900 is that the calibration file must be imported into the site and published to the project library, and then to the machine. I understand that it can be exported to the machine remotely, but we haven't tried that and just use a jump drive. With GCS900 we could have the design loaded and then just import the calibration file on site directly from our data collector. I now need to bring my laptop and go through Trimble Business Center.

Are you handling this the same way, or do you have a better method?

Same way. We hire out the model building and they send us a VCL file that we'll load up in the data collector, localize the site then load on the machine.

We are kicking around the idea of getting a TBC subscription but we don't do much design build work. 99% of what we do has design drawings so it's easier to send off the CAD file and control point file to the model builder and let them do it. It averages $1,000 per job for a 1-2 acre sized commercial job.

It's the time it takes to learn TBC. Currently we use Insite for quantity take-off and estimating models which my wife does exclusively. Insite does everything we need on the bidding side and the model builders are reasonable enough that it works for us at the moment. However on a larger job with a lot of change orders it would be nice to make those changes in the model and send it to the machine.

 

[DMiller]

Nice looking work CM, and I agree; a loaded dump truck will find a bad spot. The nuke gauges are nice and way faster than the old cone and sand method if the proctor is good (probably dating myself there) especially for help with moisture content, but if you know your dirt you can pretty well tell where you're at from the way it lays out.

Hauling for a Paving company for road fill, they checked compaction was fine until we started rolling thru, worked up moisture and Loess Soil went to Muck, were Pissed Off BAD as had to dig out and backfill Rock.

 

[skyking1]

The only caveat to running the trucks on the fill is when it gets to pumping. Some material can't take the continuous massaging like that. It heals up over the weekend but it is a bad look to the customer when it is going on, so I watch for that action.
We see that here with overoptimum moisture most of the year.

 

[CM1995]

The only caveat to running the trucks on the fill is when it gets to pumping. Some material can't take the continuous massaging like that. It heals up over the weekend but it is a bad look to the customer when it is going on, so I watch for that action.
We see that here with overoptimum moisture most of the year.

We don't have that problem very often. Usually if a loaded tri is pumping the fill the compaction is off or the subgrade materials are soft. Any material that pumps under a loaded tri is undercut and replaced with structural fill. Standard spec here in most geo-reports.

A good structural fill here will be a clayey sand with rock fragments less than 4" and having a weight between 110 - 120 pcf. Once had a town home project with 30K yards of export that was chert that was 128 pcf. Heaviest material other than rock we've dealt with. That material could be dumped out of a truck, spread 8" think with a 953 and achieve 98% compaction.

I hear ya on the over optimum moisture as we get the same amount of rain as you guys get around 4.5' a year.

 

[DMiller]

Compaction here has always been a Issue, Loess is fine dry, add any moisture value the grains slip across each other, similarly for conventional Clays, biggest concerns around here are Blue or Gray Hydraulic Clays, those tend to be pretty deep yet once exposed become a Nightmare as those swell with added moisture and contract as drastically dried. Soils here above bedrock can be as deep as several tens of feet to only inches.

Always a concern for Black Stick in bottoms areas that grows a magnetic property, sticks to Any and Every thing comes in contact with, horrible to work around from just moist.

 

[DGODGR]

Nice to see the 325 finally on the job and earning it's keep. Be careful when playing with the trees. As I'm sure you have noticed, there are lots of fragile electrical wires, and connectors on the boom and stick. My 325 went into a machine fault Monday. Turns out that I had broken one of those fancy connectors. I haven't played on the trees for quite some time now, but Monday was the day that the connector decided to disconnect itself. Turns out that the machine does not offer a lot of grade assistance when it doesn't know what degree of rotation that the bucket is.
She still moves a lot of dirt though! My 48" bucket moves 1.6 yards per cycle, and that still impresses me!!

 

[CM1995]

The lab project required a 6" DIP sanitary sewer service for the new addition that the engineers could not find an avenue to tie back into the main building sewer - overhead with a pump or underground. So the plans called for a new line outside the building, tying into the main lateral leaving the building.

The proposed line runs through both drive lanes to the parking deck below, up a landscape area and thru the loading dock apron where at least 6-8 delivery trucks a day varying from Fedex step vans to LTL's. Fun stuff.

Since this line is running through all that fun stuff described above we rented 7 - 5x8 road plates to leap frog over the open trench until it was backfilled. Fortunately we know the local inspector and he's a very reasonable guy. Had to get 3 different visual inspections on the line before backfill and he was very accommodating.

Hammering the asphalt at the tie in location on the existing main. It was easy to determine where the main left the building as there were two clean outs, one right inside the parking garage and one in the service drive.



Tie in area exposed and first leg of the trench.



When we exposed the main it turned out the original engineer spec'd service weight cast iron for the sewer main for some unknown reason. This is one of many reasons to always be careful around existing utilities and hand excavate when close.

The existing main is cracked and leaking.



The GC had a video company come out and camera the line. Apparently the line has a sag from the clean out just inside the parking garage to the point of the break in the pic above. Due to state law we can install sanitary sewer 6" and larger with stamped drawings up to 5' of the building with a master plumber license. Since this repair could possibly run well within 5' of the building and probably into it, the plumber will make the repair and we'll be there to put a WYE in at the same time.

First 2 joints of 6" DIP installed. Left the first joint unbackfilled for the tie in to be performed later. Pipe threaded under the conduits for the light pole in the island.



Bedding the pipe with #57 stone and backfilling with ALDOT 825B which is a dense graded base.

 

[Columbo]

I’ve never been involved in any commercial construction so I find all of this very interesting. You guys clearly keep a clean and tidy site!

 

[CM1995]

Made it across the lower parking/drive lanes and found a 4" PVC pipe that wasn't marked by the GPR guys. GC had the work area radar'd and marked which turned out to be pretty accurate except for this pipe.

An unknown 30 year old PVC is no match to a 305 with 24" bucket.



Turns out the 4" PVC is some sort of underdrain we didn't find the end to. Anywho we repaired in kind and carried on.

First MJ clean out with Zurn HD adjustable clean out cover installed. The CO covers are nice but expensive at $275 a piece.



View from the loading dock back through the landscape area. Better pic of the parking garage and proximity to the lateral tie in.



Favor for the GC. For some reason the original contractor extended the footing 5-6' past the building. The new footing and stem wall for the new addition ties back into this corner. Saw cutters cut almost all the way through but had an inch or two to go.

Cutters asked us if we would hammer it out. GC hired them but we also use the same company for our saw cutting so it was sort of a dual favor. In exchange for hammering the footing, the saw cutters made a few curb cuts for us with their hydro powered hand saw. Win-win, it's what I like about this business.

 

[CM1995]

I’ve never been involved in any commercial construction so I find all of this very interesting. You guys clearly keep a clean and tidy site!

Thank you! Commercial jobs like this pay well but there are always eyes watching everything you do. A tight, clean jobsite makes the GC and more importantly the owner happy on jobs like this. The contract documents pretty much spell out what is expected and we charge accordingly in our bid.

On a typical commercial project 20-30% of the contract value is paperwork including but not limited to: bidding documents, contract negotiating, submittals, schedule meetings, pay apps and lien waivers.

The paper work side is the easy part, completing the project is the real work.

 

[CM1995]

Trenching across the loading dock.





Side view of the existing material. The black seam is low quality coal and the grey is a really nasty clay, the kind of clay one can make pots with. I really don't know how the concrete held up so well over the years with this stuff as the sub-base.



6" MJ wye with MJ clean out. We used MJ-MJ adapters for the 2 - 45's for the clean out since there wasn't enough room to use a sleeve or short piece of pipe. First time we used them and they worked very well.



Turned the corner in the loading dock headed towards the new addition. Trench plated.

 

[willie59]

Yeah, I've drilled that nasty clay in the Hamilton Alabama area. Soil was mostly sand and pea gravel with pockets of that clay. Going through it was no problem, but once you're through and get back into sand/gravel you'd lose return water circulation back out of the hole. That clay is slick when wet, but once you lost return water lubricating the hole, friction would dry the clay and that crap would lock up a drill rod. Working with that material was a PITA.

 

[skyking1]

That clay is worth money for pond lining etc, and costs money everywhere else.

 

[willie59]

That clay is worth money for pond lining etc, and costs money everywhere else.

For sure, that Alabama gray clay would do well lining a pond, and can assure you no water would leak through.

 

[skyking1]

we covered a landfill with a red variety many years ago. The only trucks that did well hauling it in had bed liners and vibrators, and they still spent time shoveling it out at the end fo the day.

 

[DMiller]

we covered a landfill with a red variety many years ago. The only trucks that did well hauling it in had bed liners and vibrators, and they still spent time shoveling it out at the end fo the day.

Hauled the crap for a paycheck, day in day out, liner only gave clay something else to stick to or work under!! Red clay, Potters clay, #1 &2 clay for additive materials once kiln cooked. Much of what we hauled went to Cement producers or to Christy Minerals High Hill MO. All the commercial work reminds me of the never ended trench and repair at the Nuke. Site was always kept level and free of mounds, 1" steel plate used and kept in racks in a warehouse to cover trenches for drive overs or walkways. MILES of Buried Conduits, piping, cable runs, some for construction structures and abandoned in place.

 

[oarwhat]

That pipe sure seems like overkill for a basic sewer line. Any reason why it was used?

 

[CM1995]

That pipe sure seems like overkill for a basic sewer line. Any reason why it was used?

It is IMO. We sent an RFI in early on to see if the line could be SDR35, SCH 40 or similar in order to save the owner money instead of ductile since the only thing this line services is a wash down area with trench drains. Engineer said they needed to use ductile since the wash water was 170 degrees and it needed time to "cool down" hence the ductile.

Sounded like the pulled it out of their arse but we don't get paid to design, we get paid to install and ductile pays more.