First Elevated Sand Mound

guyute65045

Just did my first mound system, came out nice. 90' X 50' X 4' high with two 60" absorption beds. It took 17 tri-axles of sand, 3 trucks of fill and two trucks of topsoil. My question is this, is there an easier way to cap the mound. What I did was to build it to hight and the throw the fill and then topsoil down the back of it(downhill side). The engineers around here mandate no traffic on the sides or downslope side once the ground has been plowed. I caped it from the top but it was kind of a P.I.T.A. obviously the sides and front were easy. When the mound was capped on the sides I put in the trenches, got the squirt test and finished it. All in all it went well not much different than any other system, just in a big ole pile of sand.
Thanks in advance for the replies
new guy starting out,
John

rino1494

Here is a thread about one I did last yr.

http://www.contractortalk.com/f88/elevated-sand-mound-22809/

I wish I took more pics, because I did 3 of them this year. Anyway, I lay out the mound and pound in 2x3 stakes on the perimeter and with a marker, I mark the height of the sand and stone and run a string around on the lines. I throw the sand in with the excavator. After the sand is in, we bring in berm material and I throw that all around the mound up to the height of the stone. After all my pipes are in and tested, I sprinkle hay on the of the stone and start grading her up. Sometimes I use a dozer if I have it on site, but most of the time I just use the excavator. I just walk the excavator on top of the mound and go to work.

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guyute65045

Nice looking mound there Rhino, that is essentially what I did but mine was on a pretty severe slope. The enigeneers here are adamant about no travel on the downslope side or sides of the mound after chisel plow. Makes it a pain. I thought about throwing some fill downslope when I was half way to final elevation, and then going back to sand. Is that loamy fill you capped it with? I used a nice loamy fill, but a lot of people around here use clayey fill, which again the engineers don't really like.

neolitic

What is the deal with those?
Very rare in these parts.
Is it bedrock too shallow, stony ground,
or just really bad perc?

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OCRS

Here's a couple from a site near me. I don't know if it's the same as what you guys are talking about.

guyute65045

Here about 40% of all systems are mounds, due to the distance to seasonal high groundwater. We have a high water table for a good part of the year.

neolitic

AAAAh.

Where's "here"?

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guyute65045

Vermont

neolitic

Good man.

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rino1494

Bad perc's in my area. We have alot of clay and hardpan. Wear's bucket teeth down to nothing real quick. We need 48" of "good" soil. However much doesn't perc well is made up with sand. For example, if the limiting zone is 22', we will need to install 26" of sand at the highest elevation in the absorbtion area.

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neolitic

Always interesting to see how
things are done in other places.
The Ex never had much patience
for me stopping at the odd excavation
or half framed house.
She never seemed to develop
a taste for the experience.

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