The process of excavating for the pool generated a lot of dirt. Having it removed would be extremely costly so we decided to use it to partially level the yard below the pool. This area is around 25 meters wide and 10 meters deep. The elevation difference from one side to the other is around 1.5 meters and from top to bottom around 1 meter.

As with the concrete footings, the pool shell can’t sit on bare earth. Popular base materials include sand, small screenings (i.e. gravel), and crusher dust. We’re using the latter. Crusher dust is crushed rock with a maximum size of 5mm (~1/5 inch). It’s fine, somewhat sand-like in texture, and like road base, compacts well to provide a hard, even surface.

But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand Mathew 7:26 And yet sand is a popular base material under foundations :P

With several backbreaking days of pick and shovel work behind me, I think I can finally call the excavation complete. Things went mostly according to plan, with the exception of a possible miscalculation of the pool wall to wall width…

It was always likely that the unpropped excavated wall at the rear of the pool deck would collapse if it got significantly wet. We were intent on avoiding this by ensuring that it was well protected from the weather.

Mostly. There is still plenty of shovel work remaining to get the footing trenches exact, and there’s a substantial amount of manual digging to do in the areas pipes were discovered during the dig, but the rough (read machine) excavation is complete.

I’ve just completed two full days excavating and the site is taking shape. 1.7 tonne excavator

Alrighty, it’s excavation time. To prepare for the dig I made the dig plan below: Dig plan showing the elevation of each area to be excavated