Forum Heavy Spot

Outrigger pad sizing on soft fill — what is your rule of thumb?

Started by RayIN · 2d ago14 replies3.2K views
RayINThread starter

Crane operator · Joined 2010

#1

Setting a 60-tonne RT on engineered fill that was placed last autumn. No plate load test available and the GC cannot tell me a bearing capacity beyond 'it compacted fine'.

I know the right answer is get a number from an engineer. Short of that, what pad area are you all using as a starting point before you ask questions?

FredM

Moderator · Joined 2007

#2

There is no rule of thumb that keeps you out of court. If the GC cannot give you a bearing capacity, that is the conversation to have, not a pad size guess.

That said, for planning purposes I start at 150 kPa assumed for unverified fill and size from the worst-case corner load off the chart. It is usually a bigger pad than people expect.

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