need help finding a dig crew matching our needs

[danhayes1188]

We are in Houston Texas looking for a company that can drill a hole of dimensions 5'x18' for a large sign. Do they make auger bits this big or do we have to use a large backhoe type excavator? Everyone we have called only has bits up to 48". This is our biggest hole yet but we will have 2 even bigger this year, both 6 foot wide by 20 feet deep. We would like to come to an understanding about the expectations and nuances for a hole this big... what's required, what expedites the process and saves money, and what advice do the older more experienced guys in the field have to offer.
Currently requesting Geotech report for water table depth and soil composition. What do we do if the hole goes beyond the water table, get a pump crane? get a casing to go in the hole? make a slurry hole? we are speaking with the engineers who worked on this projects' plans to see what is needed but we would like to be as prepared as possible as soon as approval is granted. Thanks for your time, yall are always a huge help.

 

[Gino]

Is this a hole or a foundation ?? Most likely, you'll need an excavator. If you go that deep, you might hit china.

You'll need to spec out the concrete mix, the rebar needed and spacing. Hopefully your engineers will be telling you all that. Cripes, we did a 3' x 7.5' double sided cabinet about 36" in the air and we hadda go down almost 5' The ditch was 30" across and 9' long....... for a can not even 6' to the top of it.

Are you planting a pylon sign ??

 

[netsol]

one of my long time clients is only about 60 ft. from a brook.
25 year ago, a vendor dug a pit for a hydraulic elevator project.
they only went about 5 ft down below the level of the concrete basement floor.
it looked like that scene in the pump room in Titanic
by the time the dust settled on this project, (the building is not huge, 50' x 100' footprint) we had
(13) 3 phase sump pumps. the water pumps into a pit in the parking lot. i don't think even during droughts it is ever more than 15 minutes between that pit filling and the outside pump cycling
to empty the pit.

 

[danhayes1188]

Is this a hole or a foundation ?? Most likely, you'll need an excavator. If you go that deep, you might hit china.

You'll need to spec out the concrete mix, the rebar needed and spacing. Hopefully your engineers will be telling you all that. Cripes, we did a 3' x 7.5' double sided cabinet about 36" in the air and we hadda go down almost 5' The ditch was 30" across and 9' long....... for a can not even 6' to the top of it.

Are you planting a pylon sign ??

yessir we are digging a hole for a pylon's footing. i appreciate your rapid feedback, this is exactly what i was looking for. engineers are slow to return our calls so the accumulation of necessary information is dragging along rather slowly.

 

[danhayes1188]

j

one of my long time clients is only about 60 ft. from a brook.
25 year ago, a vendor dug a pit for a hydraulic elevator project.
they only went about 5 ft down below the level of the concrete basement floor.
it looked like that scene in the pump room in Titanic
by the time the dust settled on this project, (the building is not huge, 50' x 100' footprint) we had
(13) 3 phase sump pumps. the water pumps into a pit in the parking lot. i don't think even during droughts it is ever more than 15 minutes between that pit filling and the outside pump cycling
to empty the pit.

jeez. we have never dug deep enough to have to worry about the water table, nor have we anybody with experience pumping water out of holes. this certainly helps put into perspective the scale of work required.

 

[Johnny Best]

Got just the guys you need, they post on here all the time, tariffs, how to, etc

 

[Gino]

Unfortunately, you WILL hafta wait for the structural engineer to lay out all the needed and necessary calculations. Sign people are no longer allowed to do it.

Are you guessing at those sizes above ??

I think I know that one guy. I saw him helping put a sign up on a wall at another sign forum...................................

 

[netsol]

our was an unusual situation. excavating 70 ft from running water you don't know what you will find

home depot will give you the pump to pump out the hole. they all have a rental department

jeez. we have never dug deep enough to have to worry about the water table, nor have we anybody with experience pumping water out of holes. this certainly helps put into perspective the scale of work required.

 

[pro-UP]

Tell the GC footer is by others and to let you know when the foundation is ready. Agreed with above engineering is an absolute necessity.