River ground and shrink-swell clay
Leflore County soils vary with distance from the rivers. MSU Extension notes that Delta soils near running water tend to be coarser, with more silt and sand, while those farther away are more clayey. The heavy clays shrink and swell. The USDA describes Sharkey clay cracking 20 inches deep or more in dry years. Either way, a low, wet building site is a problem.
A pad raises the building and gives water somewhere to go. It does not change the soil below, so the builder or engineer designs the foundation. We handle the dirt work: fill hauled in, placed and shaped to the size and height they set, and sides sloped to shed water away from the slab.
Flood zones and permits
Low ground near the Yazoo, Tallahatchie and Yalobusha can fall in a mapped flood zone. Before you build, check the parcel on the FEMA flood map and talk to the City of Greenwood inside city limits, or Leflore County outside. In a flood zone, the floodplain administrator sets the required floor height, and a permit is usually needed before fill goes down.
A surveyor normally records the finished floor height on a FEMA elevation certificate, which lenders and flood insurers often ask for. Get the required height before the first load of dirt shows up. It is far easier to build a pad tall enough the first time than to fix one later.
Getting the fill right
Ask your builder what fill they want and how it should go in. Many builders and engineers want fill spread in layers, called lifts, and packed as it goes. Some want a specific soil or a compaction test from a testing company. Send us those requirements before the estimate, and we build to them.
Wet weather is the main thing that slows pad work in the Delta. Wet fill does not pack well, and loaded trucks can rut a soft lot. We look at the site and the forecast before we haul. If the lot needs clearing, a culvert or a ditch cleaned out so water can leave, we can handle that too.
