In nearly all brick paving installations there is a fair quantity of excavation involved to allow for for the correct base that's required on an effective brick paving project.

It's important that you have a basic knowledge of the several types of soil you may encounter, as they could have a standard impact on your project. Different soils respond differently to the many elements accessible, such as ( water, frost and traffic loads ). So in this section we shall take a look at the different soils that exist along with proper sub-grade preparation.

1.1 SOIL TYPES AND IDENTIFICATION In general you can find five basic soil groups: gravel, sand, silt, clay and organic soils. The initial one is gravel. Gravel contains individual grains ranging in sizes from.08 as much as 3 inches in diameter.

The second soil type is sand. Sand is mostly composed of mineral fragments smaller than.08 in diameter with a semi-sharp appearance. The 3rd soil type is silt. Silt has extremely fine grains gives silt a really soft appearance when dry. The fourth soil type is clay. Clay is a very fine texture soil which becomes very sticky when wet and Jute felt forms very difficult lumps when dry. The fifth soil type is organic matter. Organic matter includes decomposed plant material along with organic peat, organic clays and silts.

Now that people know what the five basic soil groups, lets have a look at how to identify the many soils at hand. The best way to identify soils on your project is to complete a visible soil inspection. Some tips about what to look for in the many soils.