Grade D Dirt...

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  • Jim Frye
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2002
    • 1051
    • Maumee, OH, USA.
    • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

    Grade D Dirt...

    I was passing through a highway construction area the other day and there in the median was a hand lettered sign reading "grade D dirt". I've heard of "clean fill dirt", never knew dirt was letter graded. Turns out there are four grades of dirt from sandy "A" to high clay content "D" grades. On a subsequent pass through the area, I noticed the dirt contained large amounts of concrete rubble. The area is being prepped for new highway traffic lanes, so the heavy duty dirt would make a solid base for heavy traffic, I guess.
    Jim Frye
    The Nut in the Cellar.
    ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”
  • cwsmith
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2005
    • 2737
    • NY Southern Tier, USA.
    • BT3100-1

    #2
    Interesting, I've never heard of that before. Just goes to show, that everyday is a lesson, if we pay attention.

    Google "dirt grades" (https://www.google.com/search?q=dirt...hrome&ie=UTF-8) and you'll find a real can of worms (earth worms ?

    Obviously I never gave it much thought.

    Thanks Jim,

    CWS
    Think it Through Before You Do!

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    • leehljp
      Just me
      • Dec 2002
      • 8429
      • Tunica, MS
      • BT3000/3100

      #3
      I knew there were grades but I didn't know they were named like that, as I have always heard them referred to by name: 1. sand. 2 mixture of clay and sandy loam (I think) and 3. clay. Around here for buildings or churches 2000 to 6000 square feet require certain grades of fill - as mentioned - sandy to clay and an in between grade too, for use depending on the location and height of the building foundation floor above the surrounding land. Most of the time in this part of the country, houses don't require different grades, just dig trenches, add forms put rebar in it and pour the concrete, but commercial buildings and churches do require the different kinds.

      On thing I learned in building one church which was built on a built up base of dirt with the floor about 3 feet above the surrounding land for flood protection - A clay based dirt was used to build up the height to begin the base foundation. Once the roof was on, we had to put sand around the church and in the slope down to the surrounding level. The reason: rain ran off the roof and cut ruts into the clay based dirt; After putting sand in, there were no more natural drain ruts. I would have thought the that sand would wash away quicker than clay based dirt.

      The 500 acre farm grew up on had buckshot clay that was sticky below the surface but it often dried into square pellets like; We had sand in a small area and sanding loam in another.
      Last edited by leehljp; 11-17-2022, 11:15 PM.
      Hank Lee

      Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

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      • dbhost
        Slow and steady
        • Apr 2008
        • 9209
        • League City, Texas
        • Ryobi BT3100

        #4
        So, chunky stuff that will depending on the clay expand massively when it gets saturated? (Texas is known for expansive clay soil). I likewise have never heard of letter grading of dirt. And I worked for a company that did IT contracting for various state level civil engineering departments. Of course I was a computer systems engineer not a civil engineer so there is that tiny difference...
        Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Please check out and subscribe to my Workshop Blog.

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        • Jim Frye
          Veteran Member
          • Dec 2002
          • 1051
          • Maumee, OH, USA.
          • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

          #5
          I've been wondering about this heavy clay usage also. Our neighborhood soil is what is called Bedrock Clay. It lies just on top of the rather shallow bedrock that covers the area. There are dozens of rock quarries in the area and the clay is the only soil between them and the surface. This is an area that was scoured by the glaciers long ago. It is terrible stuff to grow anything in. When wet, it has the consistency of Gouda cheese and when dry, it will throw sparks from an edger like a fired clay pot. And it shrinks as it dries to form crevasses big enough to stick your hand down and up to two feet deep. Perhaps mixing it with the concrete rubble changes the way it behaves. Michigan built an interstate highway around the Detroit area decades ago and didn't do the sub base correctly and the road surface broke down long before it was supposed to due to poor drainage. They had to dig the entire road out down to the dirt and redo it.
          Jim Frye
          The Nut in the Cellar.
          ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

          Comment

          • capncarl
            Veteran Member
            • Jan 2007
            • 3564
            • Leesburg Georgia USA
            • SawStop CTS

            #6
            Blending clay and other gummy and sticky soils with sand changes their characteristics and makes them more workable.

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