Soil compacting methods after laying ABS pipe?

[Blade_Jones]

I just laid some new ABS pipes. They're in my driveway, which is cobblestone, so I don't want any settling to occur months later. Can foot stomping do the job or do I need to rent a compactor?

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

rent my sister -in -law

foot stomping wont do unless you weigh

about 400 lbs.... that makes for good compaction


for about 75 bucks go get a plate tamper and

run it over the whole area like a lawnmover....

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Blade_Jones]

I'm curious what effect does soaking the soil in water have? Does the soil flatten out more after it dries? And with a tamper do you fill up the trench ALL THE WAY and THEN use it, OR do you use that tamper after filling a few inches at a time or something? Also I hope my ABS pipe down there doesn't get pushed down too much from the compacting.

 

[hj]

tamping

You put in about 6" at a time and tamp it. The pipe should have been supported and "tamped" properly so it cannot settle.

 

[Winslow]

You put in about 6" at a time and tamp it. The pipe should have been supported and "tamped" properly so it cannot settle.

Ideally the fill under the pipe should be tamped before laying the pipe, then layer and tamp the pipe. Water tamping works good when you use sand as backfill. Once it is compacted it is good to go. Other soils cannot get wet as you will create mud, which is not only messy but most installation standards prohibit the practice.