Page 310 - Moving the Earth_ The Workbook of Excavation

LANDSCAPING AND AGRICULTURAL GRADING

7.4 THE WORK

The best place for a well for a residence is just outside the foundation line, so that it can be
included in a small extension of the basement or connected by a short pipe, but can still be reached
vertically from outside for pulling underground equipment and servicing the underground part of
the pump. It is usually drilled and lined (cased) before the basement is dug.
Placing the well away from the building involves constructing a rather costly separate pump
house which may pose a landscaping problem and will have to be connected to the building by
water and electric lines. It does have the advantage of freeing the building from the noise of the pump
and automatic switch, and the possible nuisance of water from leaks.
A well under the building is very convenient, and has become permissible because of improve-
ments in pump design. The flexible plastic pipe and jet pumps, now most commonly used in
drilled wells, can be serviced in spite of limited headroom.
Distance between sewage septic fields and wells may be subject to local regulations. Under
ordinary circumstances, there is no conflict between having them in the same place if the well is
deep, but there is a slight chance that the casing might crack or become disjointed and allow leakage
into the water. For this reason, prudence dictates that the well top should be higher than the field,
and at least 50 feet away from it.
The truck-mounted spudding or well drill or rotaries and down-hole units have done the drilling.
Flow in the well is measured by pumping or bailing.
A flow of 4 gallons per minute is considered adequate for a small residence, but double this is
desirable to ensure a generous supply. A small water flow can be partly compensated for by a
large storage tank.

SHAPING THE LAND

Backfilling. In general, it is most satisfactory to backfill around a foundation after the interior
horizontal supports for the basement walls are in place but before the upper framing of the building
is started. This removes the piles of fill that form an obstacle and a hazard during construction,
and provides space for entrance and piling of materials.
Backfill against fresh masonry must be done carefully. A heavy dozer should keep farther away
from the wall than the diameter of the largest stone found in the fill, to avoid accidental punching
of holes. It should not walk on fresh backfill parallel to the wall, because if it sinks on the side toward
the building, it will exert a heavy thrust and be almost impossible to get out without causing damage.
Foundation backfill is seldom tamped when it is placed, but failure to compact it offers the
danger of the loose dirt’s soaking up enough water during a heavy rain to crush the wall by
hydraulic pressure. Good underdrainage around the footings, a proper surface slope away from
the building, and compaction of the surface make such a disaster unlikely. Placing floor beams
strengthens the foundation.
A foundation of concrete block is subject to damage even after curing. Unless the fill is wet, the
weight of the dozer is unlikely to cause damage, but a stone may still be punched through the wall.
A front-end loader is the preferred tool for backfilling and grading around a building. Its ability
to back and turn with loads, to cross graded ground with a load without excessive damage, and to
place dirt exactly where it is needed enable it to accomplish much more work than a bulldozer of the
same size. However, it cannot grade quite as closely to a wall because of the overhang of the back
of the bucket in dumped position, and the fact that the bucket is little, if any, wider than the tracks.
Grading. Grading may be mostly or entirely a problem of disposing of surplus fill to the best
advantage. At other times it will consist of arranging for proper drainage, removing objectionable
humps or filling gullies, disposing of stone walls or boulders, reshaping to obtain a desirable view
or to avoid an undesirable one, or rearranging contours for better appearance. These operations
may produce a surplus of soil, or may require bringing in hundreds or even thousands of yards.
Soil in trenches and fills should be thoroughly compacted before the fine grading is done.
Unfortunately, it is not common practice to attend to this on small jobs, with the result that an