5 Environmental Surprises That Will Halt Your Project & Cost You Money

No-one likes unforeseen surprises, especially when they shut down the project while the meter keeps running and expenses rack up. If you keep an eye out for these environmental conditions during the planning phases you can eliminate some costly problems.

In most of these instances, simple research ahead of time could have saved the day. But not all. Perhaps if you know about these occurrences ahead of time, you can take precautions.

1. An Eagles Nest – or some other Endangered Species. You can’t build on a property anywhere near those guys while it is mating season. This can hold you up for a while.  And if you run into a gopher tortoise you’re looking at $2,000 per tortoise to relocate each one!

1. Chemical Dump. Were your entire property used as a dump it would have come up int he title search or some other kind of due diligence. But a corner, or a different section… this you need to be on the look out.  Always make sure you walk the property where you intend to build on it. Sometimes, you can even tell by the different vegetation that something different happened in specific section.

1. Graveyard. Beyond a lot of people finding former graveyards being “creepy” they can slow you up as the remains are relocated, as necessary and investigations undertaken with due process.

1. Wetlands. Building on wetlands is possible under certain circumstance, but the project falls under a different set of regulations and prescribed materials. Most builders will avoid building on wetlands as a result.

1. Historical Preservation or if Artifacts are unearthed.  Once the toothbrushes and dusting tools come out, you know you won’t be seeing anything excavated quickly!  While it is nice to have found some important pieces of our cultural history, it can reek havoc on a construction schedule, to say nothing the budget!  Perhaps you saw the recent story of an ancient burial ground discovered off the west coast of Florida

BONUS  LOOKOUT ITEM –  a crime scene.

Sometimes this can be avoided with security and sometimes it is a pre-existing condition.  A simple drug deal going down on a vacant lot is, sadly, not uncommon, but as soon as there is a body involved, the police or sheriff have to come in. Then there is yellow tape and an investigation. Not only will this slow things down, but it besmirches a property’s reputation which will likely have an impact on any future value.

In any of these situations, you will want to reach out to your civil engineer. If you don’t have one, or would like to have a consultation, please call us at Solid Rock Engineering 904-425-6711.