What’s a Borrow Well?

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A borrow pit is a hole dug for construction purposes to collect gravel, dirt, and sand. After excavation, it can be used as a landfill or transformed into recreational areas or natural habitats. Geotechnical engineering is required to ensure that the excavation does not destroy the earth. Industrial tools like bulldozers and loaders are used for excavation. The volume of a borrow pit depends on the construction project, and it can always be turned into something useful for the community.

A borrow pit, also called a sandbox, is a large hole that has been dug for a particular purpose. The hole left after material has been collected from a construction site is called a “borrow pit”. Often, construction crews will dig loaner pits to collect gravel, dirt, and sand for use at another location.
There are many things that can be done with a borrowed well once a construction crew has finished excavating inside the starting hole. Some wells are used as landfills, while other wells can form recreational areas. Indeed, it is not uncommon for a municipality to fill a ditch with water, creating a small artificial pond or large lake. Other pits can be transformed into natural habitats by adding some elements, such as water, to the pit area. Rarely do municipalities decide to fill a pit with sand or other extra material, although it is possible.

Excavating a borrow pit falls under the engineering discipline known as earthworks. Earthmoving projects are engineering feats that involve hauling large amounts of soil or rock from one area to another. Constructing a borrow pit may seem relatively easy to accomplish, although this type of excavation actually requires a large amount of analysis before the first dig.

Engineers must be sure that the amount of soil excavated from a trench area does not destroy the earth. This specific type of engineering, called geotechnical engineering, is a complex process. Before the invention of the computer, geotechnical engineers had to manually calculate the degree of displacement of the earth when excavating. Today, computer programs make these types of calculations easier.

Since huge amounts of earth have to be moved to build roads, railways, canals, buildings and other structures, the invention of various industrial tools has made this task easier. Bulldozers, loaders, production trucks, graders, and many other large pieces of equipment are often used to move soil from one location to another. Without these machines, digging a borrowed pit would take years instead of months or weeks.

The volume of a borrowed well really depends on the construction project at hand. While major roads and highways may require multiple tons of gravel for construction, small projects may not require much land. No matter what the final design may be, borrowed pits can always be turned into something useful that will benefit a community.




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