4. Loose clay means that heavy groundworks will be necessary
4. Loose clay means that heavy groundworks will be necessary (Image 4 of 12)
First, a more urgent problem needs to be solved: this building is sliding down the hill! The earth in this area is loose clay. Piling engineer John Peterson explains.
"When it is dry it looks quite stable. But once you add water to it, it turns into a sort of viscous blancmange, which exists for another five and a half metres underneath this structure. So a localised slip could potentially take the whole structure away at any time."
This is serious and a complex engineering challenge, compounded by a complete lack of foundations in some areas. It is not surprising that Ian and Sophie now face a Herculean and expensive ground works scheme which will take at least nine weeks if they’re lucky.
Kevin asks Ian if he's worried. "We’ve had geo-technical surveys done looking at the landslip and it is an ancient landslip site. So that has been factored into the piling. No problem’s insurmountable, I don’t think." But it comes as a seismic shock to discover that the groundworks are going to cost a hefty £60,000.
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