Shrink Swell

Many municipalities require soil studies prior to residential construction of footings to determine if the site has soil with volume change potential. Over the past 18 years we have performed studies on thousands of sites with potential shrink-swell soils. These studies require test borings where we collect soil samples and perform bearing tests to evaluate foundation support available. Recovered soil samples are returned to our laboratory for physical and engineering properties. The results of our testing are summarized in a report that presents foundation recommendations and a footing detail that is required by the Building Official. We can perform individual single family homes or large subdivision studies for commercial developers.

Footing & Foundation

Our company is approved to perform third party footing and foundations inspections in most of the municipalities in our service area. By having a third party inspector, you can schedule your inspection just ahead of your concrete and not have to wait for the Building Official. Some counties allow other inspections to be performed by third party to include foundation and projection, drain tile and reinforcing steel for poured walls. We can also re-inspect footings that were rejected by the Building Official due to poor soils or water in the footing trench. Where water is an issue, we can monitor the entire placement of footing concrete to confirm that the water did not interfere with the placement and all the concrete was placed in accordance with the governing municipality (a requirement in some counties).

Roadway & Utilities

Residential roads that are to be included into the State or County road system must be tested and shown to be in compliance with the design assumptions of the civil engineer and agencies. As a minimum, the subgrade soils need to be tested for stability by the observance of a proof rolling test in areas of proposed fill and the final grade below stone base. In areas of fill, the compacted soil needs to be tested for the proper compaction compared to laboratory testing values. Utility backfill under proposed paved areas will also require density testing of compacted fill. At the final soil subgrade, samples of the near-surface soils are collected and subjected to laboratory tests for engineering classification and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) to confirm that the design pavement section is suitable for the soil conditions. In areas of low CBR soils or unstable soil, we can recommend the placement of stabilization geotextiles and geogrids that meet the same design requirement but reduce the cost of expensive undercut and replacement of these soils.