1m3 concrete pad inside house. How to dig!

hj

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Hello. I need to dig a 1m cubed hole in my lounge floor to make a concrete pad for a new steel support. The floor is traditional screed over a concrete layer, then plastic membrane, then lots and lots of rounded pebbles.

Talking to my neighbour, who did the same in his house a while ago, once he started digging out the pebbles, it was a nightmare as they kept flooding in from under the surrounding floor.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to how I could contain the pebbles to stop them flooding in when I dig mine? Someone suggested building a box that can be pushed down bit by bit? Another idea was to push rebar in around the whole area ... but with a 1m2 pad, that would take a lot of rebar. Any other ideas?
 
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Your going to need some shuttering anyway so why not go with the box solution.
 
A better idea would be to have the pad redesigned.

A 1m3 pad seems a bit excessive for a bit of domestic steelwork.
 
Thanks for the replies. The pad will hold an engineering brick pier + upright steel. 2 large UBs will rest on it; one on the brick and one on the post. My SE seems to be generous with the required dimensions of pads, steels etc, but I'm happy to go with them.

Ragardless of the size of the Pad, if I have to dig out those pebbles, I'll have the same issue anyway of them flooding in.
 
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Is this pier an isolated pier or is it to be tied/bonded to existing brickwork?
 
It will be isolated. Here's a picture: The pier (in red) is a corner of 2 walls which are being removed. A steel (blue) already rests on the corner. A new steel (green) will rest on the pier. The SE has said to remove the entire wall, dig the 1m3 pad underneath, rebuild the pier with engineering bricks, insert the post and put the steels back on it.

 

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