OT what a workout

Here's this weeks pile of sand I shoveled out . Had to go down a size in pants waist ! Started out huffing and puffing after 15 min of digging , now can go for hour or so easy .

does osha approve that pit with no shoring?? becareful on several levels..

whats with the big hole???

that's a dangerous hole , you must be under 25 and of coarse you can't be killed at that age.

Wow! sand! you didn't say it was sand! how much do you charge somebody per hour to come and dig? Around here all we have to dig in is glacial till. You can't ever get a full shovel because of all the rocks. That looks like fun digging.

Looking good. I've got a house that needs the same thing. It has a Michigan basement and it's a mess. Come on over when your done and show me how to do it. I must caution you though, I am a slow learner. Jeff

Great looking sand especially the 3 ft or so above the layered deposits on down. Your digging a pit not a trench so no collapse problem, also the layered section should add a lot of stability.

Nice. Looks like you are getting it done. How big of an area do you have to dig out?

Where are you at to have that much sand in Iowa, near a lake area? Just curious... Grew up in north central Iowa with some very rich soil!

"Your digging a pit not a trench so no collapse problem"

I beg to differ. If that was a commercial job, he would be in violation of OSHA. The only way you can guarantee it will not collapse is if it's sloped back at least 45 degrees. It can still slough in, especially as it dries out or if there's a good rain. BE CAREFULL!!

Wider than it is deep no shoring needed, From the classes I have to take. Jim

Acording to OSHA soil classfication that is type C soil which should be sloped back 1 1/2 feet per 1 foot of depth, or have the walls shored up with an escape route. I don"t know what that beam is holding up but you need something for cribbing besides cinder block. I have done a lot of trenching and accidents do happen. You do as you wish but I would stay out of that hole. DH

That beam is more looks than anything . 10 inch channel with railroad jacks and cribbing are carrying the load . Not 25 ,,51yrs old and feel it ! East central iowa . There is a creek across the street ,i figure over the centuries is has meandered all across this area . Working way around house one corner at a time . Hoping to have footings poured this week and start on laying block . Sure cuts into any playtime a guy has .

Not picking on you --Just stay safe and let us know how it turns out . DH

Oh no ,,didn't take it that way at all . glad to hear all the advice . So ,,I am wondering ,how do they dig basements in new homes and not shore up earth , or slope it 45 degrees ?

I need to get pic of the other direction . Where I dug it's 14 ft wide so far , Tapers out to open area 20 ft wide and about 30 ft long ,,hopefully enough room to get outta the way if it lets loose . Once again ,thanks for all the great info . Cooler is full if anyone wants to stop by ! lol

starting in one corner of house and working my way around . roughly 28 x50 x 7 ft deep = lot of digging ! lol

Bryan, the technical term is called, "Angle of Repose" typically a 45 degree angle slope, from the base of the cut, which is your hole. That is quite a bit of over digging, when necessary. He is right about osha and the danger. Usually required at a certain depth, I cannot recall, but can't be more than 5 or 6 feet, where you must provide shoring or bench/slope the excavation walls back. I've been involved with a couple of trench collapses, one was me, was holding a rope attached to a phone cable on the side of the cut, gave way, was still hanging on to that rope, cut was 17 feet deep, another was digging a water line and my dumb @ss forman went into the trench to get the transit rod, side wall collapsed, chunk came off and pinned him to the opposite wall of the trench, knocked the wind out of him and it took me over an hour to dig him out by hand, I was running the backhoe. Trench was 5-6 feet deep, all in sand, we soon got a trench box on this job site, not sure what the company's owner was thinking, he was a partner in a big highway outfit, he knew better. You can tell, if there are little collapses, good chance the sidewalls will cave in, some sands are dense and compacted, depends on moisture, but with sand's gradation, there are no various sizes of aggregate and depending on moisture content, it can be unstable, too much or too little moisture, BE CAREFUL whatever you do LOL ! Looks good so far, just be real careful when laying block, you don't want a sidewall collapsing onto a fresh wall, you probably know most of this anyway, be safe !