settleing of quick 4 chambers

[hockeyologist]

Has any one had any problems of shifting over a period of time and silt being washed into the trench bottom through the louvers on sides of chambers . We've tried putting a small amount of gravel under chambers , this helps some , soil type is sandy loam. System installed at 24" max depth. Back fill native soil.

[Pete Morici]

Has any one had any problems of shifting over a period of time and silt being washed into the trench bottom through the louvers on sides of chambers . We've tried putting a small amount of gravel under chambers , this helps some , soil type is sandy loam. System installed at 24" max depth. Back fill native soil.

Here's a couple of ideas.....

1. Did you install the chambers in a pre-existing field that may not be percolating well?

2. Is there a low spot in the ground just above the chambers that would puddle water in a heavy rain and saturate the field?

3. Did you apply any landscape cloth over the louvers to prevent mud form getting back into the chambers?

4. Did you drive rebar stakes around the chambers to prevent shifting?

[hockeyologist]

soil type in alabama sandy loam , at 24" some sandstone , no fabric over chambers , but have proper couplings and end caps

[Septicpal]

Has any one had any problems of shifting over a period of time and silt being washed into the trench bottom through the louvers on sides of chambers . We've tried putting a small amount of gravel under chambers , this helps some , soil type is sandy loam. System installed at 24" max depth. Back fill native soil.
I have seen this phenomenon in Texas also. None of these chamber systems were mine, but became failing systems after several years. I checked the grade on the chambers compared to the as-built drawings and house stub-out, the grades matched. So I assumed that the chambers didn't settle but had filled up with the backfill material. The soil that the chambers were placed on was different from the backfill. The soil that was in the chambers matched the backfill material........

[Tilapia@aol.com]

I had this happen to one of my designs recently. Built right at the time of final inspection, when tops of chambers exposed. Less than 4 years later signs of failure. Excavation showed 3 rows of chambers over 1/2 filled with underlying sand, and 4th row blocked near d-box. My theory is contractor built system as if it were pipe and stone. I.e., he backfilled by bulldozing topsoil over newly laid chambers, crushing them into the mounded system. Older chambers had little for flat bottom sections, newer ones have better "feet". Evidence of this is he used almost twice as much fill soil to obtain final grade as required, because he had pressed so hard on chambers as to drive them lower.

[Trent]

I've heard of soil filtering in through the sides as well. This is just hearsay though.