Gauge Your Soil Type Appropriately

You’re about to hire excavating contractors in Coralville, Iowa and you want to make sure that you get the best results. Typically, this means that you’re going to have to understand the type of soil on your property. Not all earth is made alike, and there are many differences that you must fully understand before you start. A failure to follow these different soil types could sabotage the effectiveness of your excavating and cause problems that may be hard to understand without professional help.

Typically, soil is broken down into three different types – types A, B, and C. These soils are measured and gauged depending on their compression strength and their cohesiveness. Typically, you want land that is as strong as possible when getting excavating. However, there may be situations in which you want less cohesive soil, so pay attention to these types to understand which is the best for your unique excavating needs and to ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible.

Which Soil is the Firmest?

Most excavating contractors prefer working with Type A soil because it is the most cohesive and has the most durable compression strength – typically, it can withstand 1.5 tons per square foot or more, depending on the soil. As a result, Type A is often the best type to work on if you want to build huge buildings or if you’re laying something like a parking lot that will have a lot of weight on it throughout the days and weeks to come.

In most cases, this soil type consists of materials like clay, silty clay, sandy clay, and clay loam. These items are very dense and pure and very rarely fissure in a way that causes water to seep through it. If any of these situations affect the Type A soil – particularly water fissure through the surface – there is a good chance that it could fall into Type B soil. However, this problem very rarely occurs due to the strength and stability that is common in most soils of this type.

However, Type A soil does have some downsides for excavators, mostly due to its strength. Clay-rich soils often make it difficult for excavators to move and cut into the ground, which causes some land-moving issues that are hard to overcome. In some cases, an excavator may even mix in other types of soil to make Type A easier to move. However, this step will cause it to fall in classification and may decrease the strength of the earth, so keep these steps in mind before taking any of them.

Which Soil is a Good Middle Ground?

Type B soil is a compromise between the strength of Type A and the weakness of Type C. Typically, it is a very cohesive soil that has a relatively medium level of compression strength – depending on the materials in the ground, expect 0.5 to 1.5 tons per square foot. This strength is more than enough to hold up most construction projects and makes Type B soil a good choice for many situations.

Dirt that falls under this heading includes angular gravel, silt, and silt loam. However, Type A soils – such as clay – that are near sources of vibration fall into this category. For example, clay loam underneath of a large generator that constantly vibrated would fall under Type B because its strength is likely to be compromised by the constant vibration of these devices above them.

Excavating contractors often find that Type B is the most accessible type of dirt for them to work with because it provides solid compression strength without being hard to cut. Most construction projects can use Type B soil without having to utilize clay or other elements common in Type A. However, Type B may have some dirt from Type C, which may compromise its strength in many ways.

Which Soil is the Worst for Most Building Projects?

Last on this list is Type C soil, which is by far the least stable type available. This type of soil has particles that won’t stick together at all, which gives it a meager compression strength of just 0.5 tons per square foot. While that may seem like a lot at first, it is about 1,000 pounds. As a result, even a small vehicle could cause the soil to move quickly and cause disruption with your excavation.

Soils that fall under this heading include most types of gravel and sand, particularly those that are very dry. Even mud – though the particles will stick – is considered Type C because the mud will dry and fall apart. And any soil that has any water seeping through it is considered Type C soil because of its lack of stability, so clay and angular gravel with water seepage would automatically fall under this heading.

Is there any use for this type of soil in construction projects? Not particularly, though the sand may be removed and used as a mixer for some types of cement. However, excavating contractors find this type of soil the easiest to move and can typically buy old sand and gravel from you. They may then use these items in a variety of ways, such as decorative elements for other projects or even your gig.

Experts Are Here for You

As you can see, there are many types of considerations that you must keep in mind when getting excavating done on your property. Make sure that you have your soil tested to ensure that you get the best type for your needs. You then need to work with an excavator who fully understands this type of soil and who can take steps, if necessary, to stabilize it for your construction.

So if you are working with excavating contractors in Coralville, Iowa and you need help classifying your soil, please contact us at Brown Concrete & Backhoe right away to learn more. Our experts can come to your site, figure out what kind of land you have, and come up with solutions if you need more stable soil for your job. We can then move in some dirt to ensure you get the best excavating possible.