Summer is here and that means construction sites all over the Lowveld are going to be dealing with heavy deluges of rain. While the rain is most certainly welcome after the long and dry winter, it can cause absolute havoc on a construction site that doesn’t already have some sort of plan and infrastructure in place to mitigate the fallout from the rain.
For the most part, preparing for flooding is not all that hard and it shouldn’t take up all that much of your time or your budget, especially when compared to the damage that can be done if you were to delay the prep and then end up with a construction site that is underwater. This, as you can imagine, is going to cause your project to be setback and in turn that might just cost you quite a lot of money.
The one thing that all construction sites are going to want to avoid at all costs is water logging. This happens with the water is not only absorbed into the ground but sits there, and remains wet and soggy. This kind of ground is only going to prevent machinery from being safely used. Water logging is likely to happen when an area experiences continuous rain, flash floods, or when the water table is really high already, and more rain falls. The goal is to have adequate drainage on a construction site so that any rain that falls will drain away rather than stay in one place.
Water-logged sites can lead to foundations coming apart, damage to the materials on the site, and also damage to the electrical equipment and machinery on the site. A water-logged site can also lead to machinery slipping while in use.
So, what can you do about it?
Some of the things you can do to prep your site before the rains come, is to build drainage systems that will allow the water to run off the ground, thus not giving the water a chance to settle in. Aside from the initial preparations, there are some things you can do once the heavy rains start falling.
- Drain the area
When you notice the rainwater is starting to pool, you can use the excavator bucket to lift the water from the site and dump it somewhere it won’t cause a problem. You can also think about investing in a pump and then suck the water from the site, this will be a lot more effective and it is also going to save you time.
- Keep the indoor areas dry
Keeping indoor sections of the construction site dry is made possible by removing the possibility of leaks and also by adding dehumidifiers to the room. This will ensure that anything you are storing in the room will be kept dry.
- Set up some shelter
Obviously you can’t shelter the entire construction site, but you can set up shelter for those areas that you don’t want getting wet. Temporary shelter is affordable and can be highly effective.
If you are looking to hire plant machinery this summer, and you are working in the Nelspruit, White River, Barberton, Komatipoort or Hazyview area, contact Fast Pulse today.
