Many people have made the mistake of purchasing land to build a home on less than desirable soil. It is easy to get excited about constructing a home but if the soil is not tested before hand it may be very difficult to get the project started. Swamp lands are a great example of this. Before a home can even be built in a swamp land it must first be filled in with sand. If the soil is not prepared beforehand, the home will have foundation problems in the years to come.
Swamplands
A swamp is a forested wetland. They can be found near lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water. Mineral soil found it these areas cause the land to hold moisture and drain slowly. A swamp has quite a bit of trees and bushes and may have areas that flood.
Soil Preparation
Needless to say building a home in the wetlands can be a tedious task. These projects are not to be taken lightly because they need special attention. There a few ways to prepare the soil before anything is construction on top of it. The soil can either be completely removed or it can be strengthened with other substances. The original soil on the land cannot be used because it is soft and many times it can be covered by water.
Foundation
After the soil is prepared for construction, the building has to construct with certain specifications. Once the land is sand filled, a raft foundation is put into place to hold the building. The foundation and the weight of the building need to be evenly spread on the soil. In a few cases the swamp is too deep to gain any benefits from the raft foundation. If that happens then a pile foundation can be implemented. There are two types of pile foundations known as friction pile foundation and end bearing pile foundation.
Swamp Mat
Construction can finally begin after the soil is fixed up and the foundation is in place. When constructing a home or building, heavy equipment needs to be brought in to accomplish such a large project. Heavy equipment in swamps can cause trucks to get stuck or sink in the mud. In order to protect the land and the equipment from being damaged, swamp mats need to be laid alongside each other to form a road. This road will make it easy to transport materials and equipment to and from the job site.
Swamp Construction
Even though construction in a swamp or wetlands is difficult, time consuming, and expensive, it is possible to accomplish. Tests should be done before the land is purchased to understand what will go into the project before it is started.
Garnett Wood Products provides quality swamp mats and can deliver all over the US. Garnett Wood Products manufactures a variety of crane mats, pipeline skids, and other specialty wood products.