The challenge
Sawmill site. Ah, the water. It's lovely and to share this respite so close to town is deeply appealing. To a soils engineer, less so. Test holes revealed the water table very close to the surface, but that was the modest beginning. In the water was wood. Tons of wood. One hundred years ago, a sawmill sat here and pushed its dust and splinters into the mud. Seven feet deep, we found terra firma.

The solution
Avoiding the expense of dewatering 907 g the sit with points, we constructed a kelly well and began more passively to dewater our modest excavation. Hauling buried rips of wood, cutoffs and just dust, perfectly preserved in this oxygen-free soil, we artfully came to excellent firm bearing. Forming footings at this depth and laying blocks up to the high-water mark, backfilling with Class II fill. Prior to construction, the owner has a picture of himself standing in the yard, water above his ankles. Through careful planning, design and execution, this house and its crawl space are completely dry. Importantly, it sits lovely and flush with the earth. One step from the sidewalk puts you on the front stoop and one more rise from the stoop into the house.