I am doing a commercial ICF job 12ft walls 10 inch core, with stamped drawings etc.  This is no big deal but upon showing up to site, I have major concerns about the ground, it is litterally like walking on a beach, soft sand every where inside footprint outside all the sides of excavation, everywhere.  i am actually suprised that the building is allowed, as has some of the gcs employees. My concerns however is my bracing and the ability to hold and allow for adjusting.  I have expressed these concerns daily to the gc and suggested that maybe pouring it in two pours with a cold joint would help.  The engineer is against it but I literally dont see how i will be able to get the ground to hold to adjust my bracing when there is 12 ft on concrete 10 inches thick.  It is so soft i even have concerns about it adjusting a six foot wall.  Are there any suggestions to get this to work? anything i can take backl and suggest to perform this job?

What is your experience? Your user name tells me you are an ICF contractor and also you have bid and won a commercial project.

There is an engineer on the project.

All commercial projects must have the not only the structure designed by him, but also he must approve the bracing system.

I would start with him if you have great concerns building on the beach, find out his thoughts and what he was thinking/expecting when he designed everything. His conversation with you in this regards is no cost.

Why did you bid a project without knowing all the perimeters?

Not my area, but as far as I know, sand is a good material to build on. Can you go down a foot or put augers into the ground? I've seen ones in the 1-2 foot range. You can also wet the sand which makes it much stiffer.

Wood stakes hold better in sand than steel ones. You can also pour and grade beam to brace from, unless you are lucky enough to have an interior footing already there.

I have never had an engineer comment on the bracing.

Have done many jobs putting bracing on sand. But the sand had to be compacted after the footings were poured. Would then use footing stakes on an angle to anchor the bracing. Works really well. Here in VT, it is usually compacted sand that is under concrete floors, sometimes 3/4 stone. Compacted sandis done in layers and watered as things go along. The compactor does a great job. Good luck.

Pour the floor slab first, then stack and pour the ICF walls. Tapcon your braces to the slab.

Yes, pour the slab.....

so then be prepared to repair the slab? Or leave it with holes and hunks popped out? So, do you folks cover your slabs and keep them wet while they cure? Right, they do that on all commercial jobs where there is plenty of time to sit around and wait. Bad kharma to harm anything while building.

Posted By EnergyAudit on 19 Jun 2011 12:55 PM
so then be prepared to repair the slab? Or leave it with holes and hunks popped out? So, do you folks cover your slabs and keep them wet while they cure? Right, they do that on all commercial jobs where there is plenty of time to sit around and wait. Bad kharma to harm anything while building.

Yes.  Fill the holes left by the removed tapcons with non-shrink precision grout thinned to fluid consistency. 

http://www.quikrete.com/productline...nGrout.asp

My slab, which was a home basement slab rather than a commercial slab, was kept flooded with water for ~10 days prior to removing the forms.

We don't know the details or timelines regarding this project.  We were just throwing out some alternative ideas to consider.