Location: Garden Valley Idaho
Issue:
The property is located in a mountainous area. An area was cleared for a 16W x 32L shed. Large cement barrier blocks were brought in by the excavator before back filling the building site. The excavation contractor used native soil from the property for back fill material; the native soil contained organic matter and other deleterious materials not suited for structural fill. It was also not placed in compacted lifts. This resulted in the shed settling more than 18 inches. This also caused damage to the attached roof as well as the plumbing and electrical.
Polyflow Solution:
This is a project that we worked as a team with a local general contractor. Our responsibility was to stabilize the soil and they would mechanically lift the structure back to its original height and support it. We started with testing the soil to determine the depth of unconsolidated soil; which was found as far down as 12 feet deep. In order to provide adequate load bearing capacity in the soil under the shed; we utilized direct injection into the soil at multiple predetermined depths and locations. We performed the necessary injections in a grid pattern both inside the shed structure and around the outside perimeter. The wood floor of the shed had to be removed to complete the direct injection process. The general contractor installed temporary hydraulic jacks around the perimeter of the shed in order to lift the shed structure back to its proper height. After we completed the soil stabilization we remained on the job site while the general contractor lifted the shed pushing against the recently stabilized soil. There was a couple areas that needed to be injected with more structural foam in order to support the jacks that were being used to lift the shed; once the final injections were completed the entire structure was resting on soil that was more than sufficient to bear the weight of the shed, as well as its contents and the attached roof structure.
