Soil Testing: How It Steers Your Construction Projects In The Right Direction
Posted on: 16 November 2016
If you are planning to embark on a construction project, be it commercial, industrial or civil, you should take the time to investigate your site carefully. One way of doing that is by seeking soil testing services. Through soil testing, you can get invaluable knowledge about what lies beneath the surface of your site. This information can then help to shape your build in numerous ways as seen below.
Soil stability
Soil stability tests allow you to understand the strength, plasticity and load-bearing capabilities of the soil on the site. This information lets you know whether the soil there is ideal for your foundation or you will need to infill soil from somewhere else. The results will also guide you on how to stabilise the soil and how to compact your graded soils. In some cases, the soil stability results may even affect your building techniques as you seek to maximise safety and durability of your structures.
Soil drainage
Drainage is a primary issue in any build. Through soil testing, you can learn how good or how bad the soil on the site is at drainage. This information helps you to plan your soil grading and stabilisation measures in order to avert issues such as rising damp, flooding and corrosion in future. The drainage capabilities of the site may also lead you to install precautionary drainage systems.
Soil acidity and alkalinity
Soil pH can have a huge effect on building materials over time. Adverse pH values can affect concrete and metal by causing issues such as concrete cancer and corrosion. Understanding the alkalinity and acidity of the soil allows you to treat the soil in advance in order to avoid costly repairs later on.
Soil profile analysis
It's also important to understand the soil profile of your site. The soil profile helps you to get clarification on a number of questions such as how deep is the bedrock, how much excavation is needed before laying the foundation, how will the site affect the building costs, which part of the site is best for the build and more.
Soil contamination
Last but not least, soil testing allows you to gain insights into any presence of contaminants in the soil. Soil contamination can help you reconsider the viability of the site and save you lots of money in future. It can also give you a chance to rehabilitate the area before it's too late. If your construction project is likely to worsen the contamination, you can formulate plans on how to change this outcome and thereby slow down or slowly abate the contamination.
The best time to carry out soil testing is during the design and site selection stage before you have made concrete plans about your construction. This way, your build plans will remain flexible to the results of the soil tests.
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