St. Bernard Parish, LA Shrink-Swell Risk

St. Bernard Parish, LA's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Very High

St. Bernard Parish, LA: USDA's soil survey rates 87.9% of the county "Very High" for shrink-swell potential (14.43% linear extensibility). That's the range most associated with real foundation cracking - stair-step cracks in mortar joints, sticking doors, gaps around window frames - and it typically needs an engineered foundation (post-tension slab, drilled piers), not a standard footing.

What St. Bernard Parish's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in St. Bernard Parish can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in St. Bernard Parish.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

St. Bernard Parish's soil reading is exactly the case where a report before construction, or before cracks widen, pays for itself. The report ($1,000-$5,000) is what tells you whether St. Bernard Parish's county-level reading applies to your lot; the repair ($5,000-$15,000) is what it costs if you skip that and find out from the cracks instead.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, St. Bernard Parish, LA is the 2-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Louisiana alone it ranks 2 of 64. St. Bernard Parish, LA is 378 square miles with a population of 44,783.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Meriwether County, GA and Glacier County, MT are worth a look for comparison.

How this reading is built, and its real limits · The warning signs of expansive-clay damage, explained

More of Louisiana

Every county in Louisiana is on this site, including St. James Parish, LA and Evangeline Parish, LA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.