When building on clay soil, you must understand the importance of soil stabilization for your home. Most importantly, it can protect the integrity of your foundation. Additionally, you will have peace of mind knowing you are doing everything possible to prevent your foundation from failing. Below are a few significant reasons why soil stabilization is so important.
Clay soil supports the bases of homes and businesses. This type of soil is precious because it is highly absorbent. It allows water and other liquids to permeate through it and move into the structure. The porous nature of clay soils also provides for more infiltration and loss of solid debris. Unfortunately, all of these things can deteriorate the quality of your foundation and weaken your building.
Solutions to soil stability present several ways to address this problem. These methods employ precise soil leveling by breaking up expansive clay soils and introducing heave systems that pull the soil apart with force.
Solutions for building on clay soil using these methods have several advantages. For one thing, the soil is broken up into smaller particles, so movement is reduced. Additionally, a precise level of heave or lift is maintained, as well as a marked decrease in soil erosion.
The methods that employ precise soil leveling also reduce silt levels and the amount of water runoff during heavy storms. This reduction in water runoff and increase in aeration rates can improve aesthetics, heating, and cooling costs and reduce the potential for structural failures due to the movement of soils.
One crucial point to consider is the movement of water within the soil. Water is easily lost through permeation through the soil. Soil movement is known to occur in two different levels of depths. The first is horizontal movement, and the second is vertical movement. As a result, the first level is a primary datum, and the second level is a secondary datum. The primary datum is the area that is settled by the soil water.
Based on the data collected, a mathematical formula is developed to identify the elevation of a particular section. This process of elevating areas of land is known as leveling. In addition to this, another essential leveling method involves using alternative methods such as zero level elevations and change points.
There are different means for detecting elevated sections and zero-level elevations. Among these, the most common is local aqueducts, surface elevations, and fixed height wells.
Groundwater survey has become an essential part of the civil engineering practice. It determines the location of critical water resources, including lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, canals, etc. It also determines the position of the main aqueduct, fault line, and the dykes used for controlling floods. Civil engineering also uses the elevation data derived from the soil, the velocity data derived from an installation of leveling stations, and the elevations obtained by the methods mentioned above.
To detect changes in elevations of soil, two types of datum are used. They are the primary datum and the secondary datum. The primary datum is the original elevations of the soil obtained after a building is built. The secondary datum refers to the elevations that can be determined after a building is constructed.
For land drainage purposes, two types of porous layers are required. One is known as the main drain layer, and the other is known as the footer layer. The civil engineering firm should provide the technical inquires required to the specialized consultancy firm.
