Cross Limerick from the Castletroy suburbs toward the Docklands, and the soil changes completely. On the eastern side, you are into glacial tills with limestone cobbles. Near the Shannon, it is soft alluvial clay and silt for metres. That is why a desk study alone cannot settle a foundation strategy here. Opening the ground with an exploratory test pit lets you see the transition, the water, the fill. In one morning, our crews expose the sequence and the surprises. We often combine these observations with a grain-size analysis when the fines content looks borderline, but the pit itself gives the first real answer.
In Limerick, the most expensive geotechnical surprises come from buried fill and fluctuating river levels. A test pit reveals both in under two hours.
