That week last summer in Houston with the 90 foot crawler crane

I was working a job putting in a new HVAC unit on a big warehouse roof. We had a 90 foot crawler crane set up in a tight lot, and it rained for three straight days. The ground got so soft that we had to keep re-leveling the outriggers with 4x4 cribbing every morning. Lost about 2 hours each day just doing that. The worst part was on Thursday when a stabilizer pad sank about 6 inches into the mud during a pick. We got it done but man I never sweated so much over a simple lift. Has anyone else dealt with soggy ground issues and found a good way to prep for it faster?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_faith24d ago

Never thought about steel plates before, but that actually makes way more sense than fighting with wood all day.

webb.ben24d ago

Those 4x4s are a bandaid not a fix. I started using 2 foot square steel plates under the cribbing. 3/4 inch thick. They spread the load way better than wood. Cost a few hundred bucks but saved me hours of headache. You gotta think about the ground bearing pressure. That 90 footer probably puts like 50 psi per pad on soft ground. Wood just pushes into the mud. Steel stays on top. Also I lay down some geotextile fabric under the plates. Really cheap stuff from a construction supply store. Keeps the mud from squeezing up around the edges. Next time you got soggy ground try that skip the constant re leveling.

sanchez.pat24d ago

3/4 inch steel plates for a few hundred bucks sounds like overkill for most residential jobs lmao. Unless you're setting up a skyscraper foundation in a swamp, wood cribbing with some gravel under it usually works fine. I've set 80 footers on just 4x4s and never had issues unless the ground was basically pudding.