Building and Construction - steel building

Author

steel building

john jacob

2006-06-14, 11:21 am

I recently purchased a steel building. 30x36 3 bay garage. It is a truss
type building. 4 total trusses.
The site I have is hilly. There is a 4 foot change in grade within the
36 feet of the building site.
I had planned on having a concrete guy dig footers, and block foundation
to bring up the sides to level, then fill and compact the inside of the
block foundation, pouring a wire, and bar filled slab on top. The
trusses would sit on concrete footers dug down below the frost line.
I got several estimates for the foundation, footers, slab. They are all
around 22 thousand dollars. Way too much for me to afford.

Here is my question.

I have plenty of dirt on hand. Would it be possible to build a retaining
wall, (much like the ones you see along the roadways holding back hill
sides) Using steel I beams, set vertical, in concrete footers, 8 feet on
center. Set 2x8 pt lumber in between the I beams, stacking them up, to
create a wall. Then fill behind the wall, compacting the soil,
alternating soil, stone, recycled concrete. Until the site is level.
Then either pour a slab on top, or use black top as the slab. Along the
2 long sides of the garage, I would ramp dirt, covered with cr stone as
a driveway. This ramp would also serve to "hold back" the retaining wall.
Does this seem possible, and practical? What problems could I run into?
I live near a quarry, and stone is easy to get. Also, dirt is easy to get.
John Jacob

Bob Morrison

2006-06-14, 11:21 am

In a previous post john jacob wrote...
> I have plenty of dirt on hand. Would it be possible to build a retaining
> wall, (much like the ones you see along the roadways holding back hill
> sides) Using steel I beams, set vertical, in concrete footers, 8 feet on
> center. Set 2x8 pt lumber in between the I beams, stacking them up, to
> create a wall. Then fill behind the wall, compacting the soil,
> alternating soil, stone, recycled concrete. Until the site is level.
> Then either pour a slab on top, or use black top as the slab. Along the
> 2 long sides of the garage, I would ramp dirt, covered with cr stone as
> a driveway. This ramp would also serve to "hold back" the retaining wall.
> Does this seem possible, and practical? What problems could I run into?
> I live near a quarry, and stone is easy to get. Also, dirt is easy to get.
> John Jacob
>

The vertical steel beams are called soldier piles. 8' o/c is too far
apart for 2x8 timber lagging. a more common spacing is is in the 4-6 foot
range for 4x6 material

Recycled concrete is a good fill material unless the pieces are 6 inches
and smaller. You still need a place to set the building columns. That
can be done on the soldier piles, but the foundation should be properly
designed to take the loads.

Most jurisdictions in the country require a building permit for a building
of this size (30x36). Most likely you will need to hire a local engineer
to get you a permit ready set of documents.

--
Bob Morrison, PE, SE
R L Morrison Engineering Co
Structural & Civil Engineering
Poulsbo WA
bob at rlmorrisonengr dot com

Dan Deckert

2006-06-15, 2:21 am

"john jacob" <j.jacob-bikehead@att.net> wrote in message
news:YbUjg.184787$Fs1.171889@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> I recently purchased a steel building. 30x36 3 bay garage. It is a truss
> type building. 4 total trusses.
> The site I have is hilly. There is a 4 foot change in grade within the
> 36 feet of the building site.
> I had planned on having a concrete guy dig footers, and block foundation
> to bring up the sides to level, then fill and compact the inside of the
> block foundation, pouring a wire, and bar filled slab on top. The
> trusses would sit on concrete footers dug down below the frost line.
> I got several estimates for the foundation, footers, slab. They are all
> around 22 thousand dollars. Way too much for me to afford.
>
> Here is my question.
>
> I have plenty of dirt on hand. Would it be possible to build a retaining
> wall, (much like the ones you see along the roadways holding back hill
> sides) Using steel I beams, set vertical, in concrete footers, 8 feet on
> center. Set 2x8 pt lumber in between the I beams, stacking them up, to
> create a wall. Then fill behind the wall, compacting the soil,
> alternating soil, stone, recycled concrete. Until the site is level.
> Then either pour a slab on top, or use black top as the slab. Along the
> 2 long sides of the garage, I would ramp dirt, covered with cr stone as
> a driveway. This ramp would also serve to "hold back" the retaining wall.
> Does this seem possible, and practical? What problems could I run into?
> I live near a quarry, and stone is easy to get. Also, dirt is easy to get.
> John Jacob

I'd have to ask why not excavate the upper side instead of raising the
botton side? Put in a short stem wall 12~16" high on the uphill side for
dirt/water flow. No compacting, no piles, eliminate drainage problems etc.
etc.

Dan

john jacob

2006-06-15, 10:21 am

Dan Deckert wrote:
> "john jacob" <j.jacob-bikehead@att.net> wrote in message
> news:YbUjg.184787$Fs1.171889@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
>
>
>
>
> I'd have to ask why not excavate the upper side instead of raising the
> botton side? Put in a short stem wall 12~16" high on the uphill side for
> dirt/water flow. No compacting, no piles, eliminate drainage problems etc.
> etc.
>
> Dan
>
>
>
I should have described the site better.
I do plan to reduce the high side about 2 feet. However, on the high
side, there is a 16 foot wide roll up door. I wanted to keep this
entrance at ground level, because it will be used as the main work door.
I guess I could cut down the entire area on the high side, in order to
maintain the ground level walk in.
Thank you for helping me rething this.

Also, there is a large 100 year old tree very close to the site. I dont
want to damage too many roots, that may threaten the tree.

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