Putting Concrete over Mud

I am in the midwest where we just had well over a foot of rain in ten days. I am on a farm where I have horses. In front of the barn I had

2 horses in a 30X60 foot paddock. That has always been a muddy spot, except in the real hot weather when there is little rain. But it's never been this bad......

I had these horses sinking in up to 2 feet deep in some spots, so I finally had to move them, which they are now on fairly solid ground, but have no shelter except trees until I build something. Anyhow, I have decided to abandon this paddock in front of the barn because it's always been muddy and because of that, I cant get wheelbarrows and especially my tractor inside to clean manure. Its so bad now, I had to remove a sheet of the tin siding in the rear just to get hay in there to the indoor animals. Of course that means crawling between the horizontal boards.

To solve this mess, I plan to pour a concrete pad in front of the door. The problem is I dont see this mud getting really dry anytime soon. There is still water seeping out the edges of it and running down the hill next to it. Another farmer told me it probably will not dry at all this fall, and I will have to wait until we get another dry spell next summer. Well, I cant wait that long. I need to be able to get into that barn in a normal manner again.

My plan is to drape a tarp over the area in front of the door so that it wont get rained on again, and run a few large livestock fans to blow under that tarp to help it dry. Then as soon as it firms up, pour concrete over it. But can I pour concrete over semi firm mud? I know the concrete will harden, and if I put some rebar in it, it should remain a solid pad. It will be about 10 x 16 feet. Will this work? I wont drive any heavy tractors on it for awhile, but right now I can not even walk across it without losing my boots. I dont see any other way to do this. The only other option would be to get some heavy equipment to scoop out all the mud about 2 or 3 feet deep truck it away, and bring in loads of dry soil. But that is not affordable, and pouring concrete over fresh fill seems like it would be worse than the mud because the fresh soil would not be settled.

(The remainder of that paddock will become lawn after it dries enough. I cant forsee using it for horses anymore, other than just letting them mow the lawn for me when the weather is real dry.

Anyone have any advice?

Thanks

Gary

Reply to
gbarry
Loading thread data ...

Is this a "water table" problem or lack of or very poor drainage issue? It sounds as if water ponds and holds. Ground cloth and a gravel fill sounds better to me. If you still want to pave the entryway, the gravel bed sure won't hurt, and will allow you to grow grass over it if that is your long term decision. Improve the surface run off, stabilize what you have, see where you are. How were you going to get the concrete to the location if you can't drive or walk through it?

Lime slurry injection, lime blending, fly ash blending work at water proofing subsoils, especially clay soils. I would need more information to help more. Contact your local ag county agent, they may have much better ideas that work in your locality.

Reply to
DanG

...

I'm w/ DanG on this...first problem sounds like poor drainage since you say it's always been a muddy spot, the recent deluge just made it worse.

Need to fix the drainage first and let it dry out. It will eventually dry, even in the upper midwest you've got some time before fall.

For temporary access, I'd be looking at floating some ply or other sheet goods over the area...they would likely be sufficient bearing surface to at least allow foot traffic as things gradually begin to dry out.

The pad on top w/o fixing the problem will probably be "ok" for a while, but it's likely going to sink (and inevitably in the direction where it will channel water in, not out of your barn) and if you do drive equipment over it w/ no better sub-base than that, it _will_ crack up sooner rather than later...

--

Reply to
dpb

snipped-for-privacy@myhome.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

[snip]

Always been a muddy spot? Well a concrete pad won't fix a drainage problem. Either cut a ditch to drain the area or move the barn door to another portion of the building. Or both.

If you build a pad on it now it'll likely be a disaster...

Reply to
Clark

But can I pour concrete over semi firm mud?

Not without problems. If it were me ,I would put down crushed 3/4" stone first to solve your water problem .Good luck . Harry

Reply to
42n8_1

Or you can do like they do in New Orleans when they pour large slabs - drive posts into the mud until you hit solid footing. Of course in N.O. they drive multiple telephone poles stacked end-to-end before they get to solid earth, but I don't think you'll need that.

Red

Reply to
Red

I'm with 42. A load of 3/4 rock will do wonders. I've seen footings in clay get rained on, and the excavator will dump rock in there and they firm right up. Fixing the drainage would help in the long run.

Reply to
marson

You need to dig out about 8" of mud, will that get you nearer to solid ground ? Then lay down some white plastic 3-4" sloping drain pipe either enclosed in a "sock" or at least covered by draintile paper to keep dirt/mud out of the pipe. Run it over to the 'hill' you mention where it can dispose of the water. After that backfill the excavated area with "road base" or 1" minus gravel and compact with a roller or plate compactor and THEN you can form up and pour your concrete on top of the gravel base.

Reply to
Rudy

The major oil companies are planning on building all manner of thing on the ANWAR mud (fluid mud or frozen mud... depending on the breaks). You might inquire there.

Reply to
HeyBub

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.