The before and after on a jobsite crane mat situation caught me off guard

I showed up to a site in Phoenix last Tuesday and the ground was basically mush from the rain the night before. The crane mats we had looked fine from a distance, but once I got the crawler crane positioned, I could feel it sinking just a tiny bit. I decided to stop everything and had the crew lay down extra cribbing and some bigger mats we had stored nearby. After about 45 minutes of work, the difference was night and day - the crane sat solid and didn't budge when I started lifting a 12 ton AC unit onto a rooftop. The cause was just underestimating how much water had soaked that sandy Arizona dirt. Has anyone else had a last minute ground condition scare like this that changed your whole setup plan for the day?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade_jenkins7d ago

Did you check the soil moisture content with a probe before you set up? Most guys just eyeball it and call it good but that sandy Arizona dirt can look dry on top and be soup underneath. A quick test with a soil pin or even a rebar rod would have caught that problem before you felt the crane sinking.

phoenix2468d ago

Totally. Mushy ground will sneak up on you every time.

holly_reed557d agoTop Commenter

Drop a heavy foot on what looks like solid ground and you're suddenly ankle deep in mud. @phoenix246 nailed it, that mushy stuff hides under a dry crust better than a toddler hiding a stolen cookie. Learned that one the hard way trying to shortcut through a field last spring, had to peel my boot off with both hands.