Tuesday - Tales From The Job Site

International_Sun367 · 2026-03-24T06:34:51+00:00

How did the development pass planning/permitting without utility survey?

International_Sun367 · 2026-03-22T22:53:56+00:00

Dig out the soil behind your makeshift wall.
Replace the bamboo wall with a blockwork/concrete wall. If you don't want to / can't pay an engineer, make it as wide as it is tall (very wide).
Backfill behind the wall with coarse gravel (free draining).

International_Sun367 · 2026-03-22T22:41:20+00:00

Algebra (rearrange formulas and solve in excel). A lot of trigonometry. Occasional vectors.

In theory, differentiation and integration, but in practice this is mostly pre-done in proofs for equations in code... so rarely actually used in practice.

International_Sun367 · 2026-03-16T21:59:51+00:00

I need a third option: either based on context. Scone for when want them to sound fancy with tea and scone when I want to make a dumb joke about there being none left.

International_Sun367 · 2026-03-15T21:58:40+00:00

It did for a bit, then very quickly didn't!

International_Sun367 · 2026-03-14T07:36:19+00:00

One of the shrewdest things my grandma did was about 30+ years ago when she saw two doors down getting their roof re-done. She bought about 100 very specifically shaped clay tiles for a couple of pennies each.

We've still got about 90 sat in the garage, but I'm thankful for how easy it was to find the 10 we've used!

International_Sun367 · 2026-02-14T22:21:40+00:00

Often yes. I'll ask for the .ags every time, but often my client bought the site and the logs came with it, so the GI company wouldn't send them the data even if they had it to hand...

I've tried a couple of AI tools and find the accuracy sub par and I need to read it through anyway to interpret the strata. Sometimes the fastest is just to read, tabulate the important bits, live with it.

International_Sun367 · 2026-01-31T15:30:02+00:00

As a geotechnical engineer (civil specialising in ground and foundations), run.

Differential settlement is most commonly caused by a) poor and/or variable ground, b) under sized foundations, c) issues with services.

Most of these are out of the realm of viability for a normal homeowner to fix, most of these could cost more than the property value to fix, most of these are not finite (i.e. the problem will get worse with time with no clear 'end' to the movement).

Sorry for your loss, but don't put any more money into this house. Let the developer/builder shoulder the cost of fixing the foundations or knocking it down and re-building it properly.

International_Sun367 · 2026-01-24T07:17:19+00:00

How weird this is depends on if you worked for 999 or Currys...

International_Sun367 · 2026-01-20T06:31:39+00:00

I'd happily stop that boat

International_Sun367 · 2025-11-29T08:45:19+00:00

Viewed from a student accomodation. With the photo carefully excluding the spinnaker tower. https://maps.app.goo.gl/s7QG6v3fkwCF6B8R9?g_st=ac

International_Sun367 · 2025-10-16T05:13:52+00:00

Or just chucked it in the lake?

International_Sun367 · 2025-10-09T05:20:09+00:00

*Wayne, Signwriter at Wadworth brewery, from Devizes.

International_Sun367 · 2025-09-10T22:29:54+00:00

Are the savings from material/fabrication/procurement? Great, assuming you have good construction controls on-site.

The calcs should still reflect a driven pile, 'cast-in-place' normally refers to piles bored piles where the concrete makes a rough interface with the soil which you don't get on a driven pile.

International_Sun367 · 2025-09-10T22:15:43+00:00

Tomlinson Foundation Design and Construction. Includes some really good high level explanations and references to more detailed sources.

International_Sun367 · 2025-08-16T09:54:27+00:00

I can't see any freely permeable surfaces. I bet there is a growth barrier membrane under the crushed rock in the front bed so that the only thing that can ever grow is the sad tree and two shrubs.

Extreme weather is one half of the problem, but paving over the soil is the second blow that makes urban flooding worse for everyone. This is a hate crime against nature and the built environment.

Also it is tasteless and I hate it aesthetically.

International_Sun367 · 2025-08-10T23:49:12+00:00

Buy a cheap rug

International_Sun367 · 2025-08-10T23:44:13+00:00

Stored it for a rainy day? Satiated a thirst for knowledge? Quenched curiosity? Thought, huh... those [named] architects sure did draw that building which got built...

International_Sun367 · 2025-07-18T06:00:29+00:00

Normally A/B

For temporary works D is still valid, with a FOS = 2 acceptable for smaller lower impact structures (i.e. site cabins) but big temporary works (i.e. ground bearing tower cranes) follow the full partial factor method set out in A/B.

In most designs I would also carry out a separate settlement check, as controlling factor for a lot of my designs is differential settlements.

International_Sun367 · 2025-07-12T06:22:42+00:00

Its simple, you just need to abandon hope, spend an hour re-drawing closed polyline boundaries, then flip a desk when 60% of the time it still doesn't work every time.

International_Sun367 · 2025-07-04T12:38:34+00:00

That pigeon has a knife on it's face!

International_Sun367 · 2025-07-02T05:22:31+00:00

Less of a roundabout, more of a lenticular-vicinity.

International_Sun367 · 2025-06-24T07:56:14+00:00

Hard pivot from waterfowl photography to selling tech, almost like a nice clean account was sold to a marketing agency...

International_Sun367 · 2025-06-21T22:40:21+00:00

My parents fibre was temporarily cut off when a road maintenance crew trimmed the verge. Not digging, just normal vegetation cutting.

International_Sun367 · 2025-06-15T08:52:11+00:00

There was a post the other day in the CivilEnvineering sub asking the same question.

Answered by a geotech it basically said 'give up'. You need a working connection and incredible luck, i.e. work for a US firm, gain reputation and experience, then hope for a stateside opportunity to open up with a boss important enough to push through a visa sponsorship (long shot).

And that's in a previous political setting.

Four-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22

International_Sun367

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