Clark County Construction Site Prep

This process can have a multitude of different scopes of work, to mention a few; land & brush clearing, excavation, stabilization, and shoring, and it is an essential first step. It ensures a safe, correctly constructed, stable foundation for your structure. Site prep is mandatory when you’re erecting any structure whether that be a home, business, or more substantial project. The difference is that some projects can take much more prep than others, depending on the permits and location of the project.

Always follow your local building codes and call before you Dig.

What is involved?

Geotechnical Investigation/Soil Testing 

The type of soil in your area can vary significantly from one block to the next or even closer. Some residential lots can be completely different from one another. The importance of soil testing is to find out if the earth is strong enough to build a structure in that area.

Soil tests are conducted to discover these differences. After soil samples are retrieved and have been tested in a lab, a soil report is given, detailing any possible concerns and what actions are required to guarantee foundational support. Here is a couple of possible corrective or additives that may be brought to the attention of the contractors involved.

• Lime treatment to help Subgrade stabilization
• scarification and re-compaction to a specific depth.
• Deep over-excavation and re-compaction to a specified depth, usually under large buildings and structures.

The second phase of geotechnical/soil testing work is field testing. Field testing helps ensure all of the results and corrective issues are met. This service provides another purpose as well, to offer an assurance to the owner/builder that the work is correctly completed, essentially providing a quality control (QC) test.

The excavating contractor and the QC testing firm should meet daily in the field to verify the site prep has passed or failed. The daily results of all the field QC tests can be found in the final site prep report at the end of the project.

Temporary Facilities and Utilities

Frequently, before construction begins, it’s important to establish basic onsite services to help the working crews and other visitors. A few possible services that might help from the beginning of the project:

• Job trailers(s)
• Temporary potable water
• Temporary electricity hookup to a public utility or a portable generator
• Temporary sewer for job trailers
• Port-a-potty/toilets
• Water access from a city pipe or fire hydrant, or temporary pond

Erosion control policies & procedures

The State of Washington requires construction owners or general contractors to prepare a written plan (NOI) and submit to the Washington State Department of Ecology, obtain the permit(CSWGP), and implement onsite/offsite measures to prevent any erosion and manage sediment release, so it doesn’t leave the site. This state requirement is called the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP), and all three of these elements should be implemented before site prep commencing.

Land clearing

To prepare for excavation and earthwork, the site must be cleared. Land and Brush clearing consists of removing trees, demoing buildings, and removing any existing underground infrastructure.

Pre-wet

After the land has is cleared, it is pre-wet or pre-soaked to mitigate dust during excavation.

Excavation

Excavation is the process of moving dirt, rock and other materials using heavy equipment to create building foundations, reservoirs, and roadways. Some of the different methods used in excavation include structure excavation, cut-fill grading, trenching, digging, and site development. Once a site has been cleared and its soil tested, the excavation process can begin. The process typically includes:

• Surveying ground and top levels.
• Setting out corner benchmarks.
• Excavation to the approved depth.
• Backfilling as needed.
• Constructing wells and interconnecting trenches.
• Constructing protection bunds and drains.

Expert Site Prep from Nylund Inc.

Nylund Inc. offers expert site prep and site development services for residential, commercial, and civil projects throughout Southwest Washington, Specifically Vancouver, and all Clark County Cities. We have a recorded history of providing our clients with superior excavation, material transport, site prep and site development, and sewer services regardless of project size. Our fleet of equipment includes excavators, loaders, backhoes, bulldozers, graders. Have a great day, and If you would like more information about our site prep services, please visit us at www.nylundinc.com or contact us at (360) 605-6733.