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Prior to construction works on any site, it important to obtain a Site Investigation Report. These reports aim to assign a single “Site Classification” to the intended building site. This Site Classification gives an indication of the expected amount of movement of the soils across the site, which indicates the reactivity of the soils in that particular location. The Site Classification concerns the site as a whole, and not just the reactivity of the soil.
(Obtained from http://www.soiltech.com.au/page/attachment/3/site-investigation-report)

It is important to be aware that the soil classification of your site can have a huge impact on the cost of the footing system required for your build, therefore having an impact on the overall cost of your building project. This is just one aspect, a very important one, that needs to be considered when a project is in the design stage.

Our Reservoir site is classified as Class P – Problematic. Class P sites include soft soils, such as soft clay or silt or loose sands; landslip; mine subsidence; collapsing soils; soils subject to erosion; reactive sites subject to abnormal moisture conditions or sites which cannot be classified otherwise.

The engineer has designed this slab footing system to withstand the high moisture variation this site will experience over its lifetime. In addition to the massive amount of re-enforced steel, the slab is supported on screw piles drilled 3m into the earth. This is essentially a suspended slab.