Saw a massive crawler crane working on the new bridge in Austin and the setup was wild

They had the outriggers on these huge custom timber mats, looked like railroad ties, because the ground was pure mud from all the rain. Anyone ever had to get that creative with a foundation on a soft site?

3 comments

3 Comments

west.jade2mo ago

We had to use stacked concrete blocks for a crane pad on a Houston job last year. The ground was basically soup and the mats just sank right in. Sometimes standard procedure just doesn't cut it.

schmidt.eva2mo ago

Pure mud" sounds like a normal Texas spring to me. They probably just used the mats because it was cheaper than waiting for things to dry out. Is that really getting creative or just standard procedure?

dylan_thompson1mo ago

We had a site where the standard timber mats just disappeared into the muck. The crew ended up laying down a thick layer of crushed rock first, then putting the mats on top. It added cost but got the equipment stable enough to work. Sometimes you have to layer solutions when the ground won't cooperate.