Not an abnormal process during construction - haul out the earth-product that can earn you money, then backfill with cheaper stuff when needed. As long as it's cost-effective, builders (developers) have been doing that forever.

Wow, and I thought that the idea of "renting dirt" was so outlandish that I took it as sarcasm.

(06-11-2015 10:37 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(06-11-2015 10:25 AM)RiceBull Wrote:  It seems unconventional (wisdom) that they are trucking dirt in when for the first few days of construction they were trucking dirt out.

In the mean time they were renting the dirt out at a profit.

(06-12-2015 10:29 AM)RiceBull Wrote:  Wow, and I thought that the idea of "renting dirt" was so outlandish that I took it as sarcasm.

So did I!

Hmmm ... we're drilling holes today.

(06-12-2015 10:55 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(06-12-2015 10:29 AM)RiceBull Wrote:  Wow, and I thought that the idea of "renting dirt" was so outlandish that I took it as sarcasm.

So did I!

May not be as much of an issue in Texas, but where my family had out built, it was on a former cow pasture. The developers stripped all of that good topsoil out (decades of cows does that), then brought in cheaper topsoil (and less of it) to provide just enough for some grass to take hold.

I think the soil they're bringing in now is crushed limestone. They'll wet it and pack it down until it's hard. It'll keep the structure from sinking into the soft soil underneath and prevent the foundation from cracking. It can't shift or sink if built on top of a thick layer of limestone.

First, let me say that I have no knowledge of specifics of this project and did not look at the webcam. Houston has highly plastic clay soils that shrink and swell with moisture change that results from periods of rain followed by dry periods. With the clays, building and house slabs placed on the ground move up and down, causing cracks in the slabs and finishes. Common practice is to remove some of the clays and replace with compacted select fill (sandy clay) to reduce the movement potential. The amount of fill depends on the particular soil conditions at the site. This reduces the potential of movement, but does not eliminate it. Rice also constructs some buildings that isolate the grade level slab from the ground so that soil movement will not affect the slab. This is typically more expensive than soil replacement.

Dang! I knew they'd lay some limestone, but not a two foot thick layer of it!

webcam back on after being out the last several days. A few people walking around in hardhats, but no equipment at the moment. some small rectangular thingies just in front of and to the right of the newer black structure to the far left.

The video does not seem to show too much progress in the last month.
Is the contractor waiting for the ground compaction to stabilize?
Too much rain?

Looks like they are cutting out the concrete cylinders. One gone already, laying on its side to the right of the screen.

Now three down, one to go...

(06-26-2015 03:30 PM)rice-76-03-06 Wrote:  Now three down, one to go...

And the last scoreboard piling is no more.

I was out of town and off-line and missed it!
Waaaaah!

So in terms most locals will understand....

In the build process they removed a layer of gumbo (highly plastic clay soil) and replaced it with caliche ([wet]crushed limestone).

Makes sense to me and I was only an academ.

Truck-based, yet fairly tall crane in the middle of the site today.
Why so tall?

(06-30-2015 09:50 AM)Grungy Wrote:  Truck-based, yet fairly tall crane in the middle of the site today.
Why so tall?

For the newest Fan Experience experiment, the Touchdown Pinata!

Hint: don't think of it as tall, think of it as long.

(06-30-2015 10:32 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  Hint: don't think of it as tall, think of it as long.

Don't see any long rebar assembled for new footings.
What else would need something that long?

Long reach.