[smittybros]

started a new project today,its a mall in the city of Chicago.......seemed to be a great job, after going over the print with my crew leaders no problems were expressed. 3 hrs later i get a call, my guy tries to tell me the ground is to hard to dig?........spade,wont do it .....auger on bobcat!.....nope!!!!!! not even a pick will break the ground. as it turns out years ago the would use slag from the steel mills for fill. and years ago we had the Chicago fire. i was told the fire was so hot in spots where the slag was it fused 3 ft deep. the excavator broke 2 buckets. they had to lay the foundation 7 in higher then they wanted. after talking to the GC he understood there would be some price increases. so we are putting in plants with hydro hammers. even 1 gal pots thats how bad it is.

[LabourofLove]

Originally posted by smittybros
started a new project today,its a mall in the city of Chicago.......seemed to be a great job, after going over the print with my crew leaders no problems were expressed. 3 hrs later i get a call, my guy tries to tell me the ground is to hard to dig?........spade,wont do it .....auger on bobcat!.....nope!!!!!! not even a pick will break the ground. as it turns out years ago the would use slag from the steel mills for fill. and years ago we had the Chicago fire. i was told the fire was so hot in spots where the slag was it fused 3 ft deep. the excavator broke 2 buckets. they had to lay the foundation 7 in higher then they wanted. after talking to the GC he understood there would be some price increases. so we are putting in plants with hydro hammers. even 1 gal pots thats how bad it is.

What will they grow in? Are you making huge holes and filling with soil? Is it permeable; can water perc through?

[smittybros]

yes huge holes, this stuff porous, actually drains very well. as that was my biggest concern, im still not guaranteeing any plantings (all 1800 of them) there on there own. and the GC understands. he has no choice mayor Daley wants a green city.

[Stonehenge]

Wow - I've never heard of something like that.

Good to hear you'll be taken care of, and not given the short end of the stick.

[smittybros]

very lucky,........that stick could have gotten pretty short
thanks

[HardDaysKnight]

Unbelievable! Hope there are no more snags.
Hang in there and post a pic or 2 if you can.

[Greensmith]

Man, that is crazy! I hope you can get some pics up.

[Paul]

Wait till you get to the upper south side From about Roosevelt to 75th Street East of the Dan Ryan... Nothing but concrete slabs and brick bats! Slabs, concrete foundations, all filled in with bricks and wood and broken sidewalks.

[Bill Schwab]

The entire south loop from Roosevelt to 25th st. was a garbage dump at one point. It broke my heart to see that when that lunatic Farrakans complex was built over decomposing fill.

During an excavtion down by where the Chicago Coluseum used to stand on ( Clark st. right about about 17th, which are now the sheesh south loop villages that Mayor Daley lives, we found a package of Vienna Hot Dogs from the 30's. Later, they tested the things and there was no decomposition because of the air lock in the soils.

Needless to say I did not eat too many hot dogs for a while after that.....

[Bamboo]

Guess the rule of thumb is to jab a shovel into the soil BEFORE you bid. I also have in my contract a line item about extra work due to such unknowns in soil.
One time I found a huge hole filled with asbestos floor tiles in the back yard. It had about a foot of soil over it so there was no way I could have known it was there. sheesh

[albert]

hears one for you...... I live in a town that had a steel mill from 1905 till 1974 , slag was dumped alone the river all those yrs. the site was on the superfund list starting in the 80's ,the fed's have spent millions cleaning the area up, tearing down buildings etc. saying site contaiminated but the area where the slag was dumped has grown like a forest ,you name it anb it's growning their and the area is hard as concrete

[smittybros]

albert am aware iron as a supplement will green up plants very well...... i wonder if it has enough properties to grow. or do u think the sub soil is taking care of that? im curious as my current projects success may bepend on this answer.

[albert]

dan,in reply to your question ....their was no sub-soil ,most parts of the slag area is at least 10ft thick at a minumin, some places it was up to 30ft ,but it did support plant life, the slag in your are might be the same or it could also be different ,it all depends on the type of steel that was make and the make-up of materials. the slag was of a gray color ,looked like screenings (by product of stone crushing at the quarry) got very hard after rolling and wet. I had this in my driveway for 30 years, till I asphalted last year.

[smittybros]

the stuff we are dealing with is blue and when broken or ground up its a bright powder blue. im thinking of having it analyzed. ill get some pictures and post them if i get time (and figure out how)b