What's the best way to determine if a developer has scraped the ground for land use?

[NapervilleDan]

Sorry, I couldn't think of a better way to phrase the question.

I'm using Google maps and Historical Aerials to make a list of parks to detect when I get back to Illinois.

The problem is that sometimes developers have come in and scraped the ground with bulldozers etc for land use. It's a fairly common practice to have sunken baseball or soccer fields in the suburbs where I live.

Is there a quick way to determine if the existing land is the same (level?) as it was 100 years ago (when it was farmland)?

I know it's a bit of an oddball question, but I'm trying to avoid parks with only clad coins and trash.

Dan

 

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[Kray Gelder]

Sorry, I couldn't think of a better way to phrase the question.

I'm using Google maps and Historical Aerials to make a list of parks to detect when I get back to Illinois.

The problem is that sometimes developers have come in and scraped the ground with bulldozers etc for land use. It's a fairly common practice to have sunken baseball or soccer fields in the suburbs where I live.

Is there a quick way to determine if the existing land is the same (level?) as it was 100 years ago (when it was farmland)?

I know it's a bit of an oddball question, but I'm trying to avoid parks with only clad coins and trash.

Dan

You'll have to dig a hole. Look for a thick topsoil layer, blended into the lighter soil. If it all looks sandy, rocky, or mixed, with just a thin 2-4 inches of darker dirt on top, it's newer stuff. IMO. Most of the parks, schools, and fields, around here, are fill dirt. You might also look for large trees, several feet in diameter. That's no guarantee, either, they just fill around them. Good luck!

 

[caretaker]

detect it, if you don't find trash and other stuff, it's been scraped, I hate when they scrap to much top soil off and put new stuff down, it sanitized dirt

 

[ticndig]

when you dig a beer can at 2 ft you're standing on fill.
I hunted a school yard once that was all fill , the fill was brought in from an area rich in civil war relics off the Chancellorsville battlefield.

so just go detecting , if you don't like what you're finding move on.

 

[Trezurehunter]

Not to distract you, but don't forget that the fill dirt had to come from somewhere also. You don't know what could be hiding in it. Many years ago, my wife and I were invited to a beach club as guests, and I took my detector. This sand beach was only about 100 feet long and as I pulled my detector out, a man came up to me and said there would not be anything in the sand, as it is detected all the time. Determined to have my fun, I began detecting, and pulled out 4 silver coins in about half an hour. There were 2 Mercs, 1 Rosie, and a silver Washington quarter. When I asked my friend about the beach, he said that they had just hauled in loads of sand from Chicago that morning ! It is all about research, but sometimes its all about timing !

 

[Cheeserock]

Good question. All is not lost. I can't say what the sequence was 50 or more years ago, but here is my take on modern construction techniques. If fill needs to be brought in to build to design grades all topsoil is stripped and stockpiled to the side. Once area has been filled to grade the topsoil is placed in areas designated for turf or landscaping unless specific soils are required. For instance, if a paved or gravel parking lot is built the topsoil is removed, the area is graded and compacted, a road base type gravel is installed and the area is paved. The topsoil is then placed in the green space areas. So many times I look at a new parking lot and can see that the 4 to 8 inches of topsoil that was there is now spread in other areas. Sometimes what that means is that the 10,000 square feet of topsoil that was removed is now covering an area that may only be 5,000 square feet, that's a lot less area to detect. Items that were 8 inches deep may be 1 inch deep now.
Topsoil is expensive and will always be re-used on site when possible. Don't overlook the islands in the parking lots where there are light poles, I think lots require 10% permeable surface for rain to infiltrate. Stockpile topsoil is place there also unless the landscapers are contracted to import topsoil.
I have been doing this type of work for close to 30 years. Designers, contract specs, and contractors all do things a little differently, but new construction offers opportunities.

 

[NapervilleDan]

Thanks for all of the replies. **I have found crushed soda cans more than 10 or 12 inches deep. **I've also noticed places where there's gravel about 4 to 6 inches down that does seem natural.

I'm new to the hobby, so I'm still learning.

Dan

 

[Mackaydon]

They'll still be a lot to learn even when you are old to the hobby.
Don.......