Problem with weather and pouring of foundation

[Nicholas Lohr]

I am doing a ground up build of 2 townhouses. We dug the foundation, the pad was all set to go, the exact correct elevation, etc... and then it rained like crazy for the better part of a month and now the whole site has turned into a rutty claylike mess with a ton of water in it. You sink in about 2 inches when standing in it. I pumped out as much water as I could but it's very hard to maneuver out there and impossible to get all the water out.

My foundation guy says he can't do the forms for the footings until the site drys out and it gets back to normal but now there's more rain in the forecast!

I've heard and read that the following is possible solution.... I excavate the whole site down further with a backhoe, (clay, water and all) export all that out of there, bring the whole pad down another six inches,  have the foundation guy do his form work, and then backfill the whole foundation area with six inches of self compacting 3/4 inch stone.

My thinking is, if I dig all the clay / water out, bring in fresh dirt, and then it rains again I'll be right back where I started. 

Has anyone encountered this?  Think this is the right move?  If so do I have the order of operations correct?

thank you 

[Greg Dickerson]

Nicholas,

I have encountered major groundwater issues and resolved by placing well points to reduce the levels but still had to wait for the site to dry to continue building. I can't imagine your solution would be very cost effective for 2 units. You may want to discuss the situation with a civil engineer.