Facts about BC Helical Piles:
- Helical piles are excellent in caring compression loads. But they are just as good in resisting tension forces as well.
- They are very reliable. Research and huge amount of tests and studies have been conducted over the last 50 years, which improved the helical pile accuracy to an art. The factor of safety is 2, and the failure more is serviceability (the pile is considered failed if it will sink by 3/8” at 200% the required load).
- Several million helical piles have been installed to date at countless buildings, and still, failures are extremely rare and hard to find; the few case studies of failures presented at professional conferences all steam from failure in quality control during the installation and miscommunication between project participants. Helical piles are one of the most reliable foundation systems! With these facts eliminated, helical piles will not fail!
- Helical piles are excellent in earthquake and lateral loads.
- Helical piles are immune to soil heave, floods, poor soils, peat and organic soils, fill or contaminated sites.
- Helical piles last a long time, without any protection; they are designed to last between 55 to 135 years in the Vancouver soils (without any galvanization) and between 140 to 340 years (with galvanization). Other methods of pile protection, such as anode protection or cathode protections are available. With cathode protection, the pile service life is indefinite. Based on the project requirements, exact service life design would be provided by BC Helical Pile engineers to ensure that the helical piles will outlast your project. Service life designs of 80 years for black steel (non-galvanized) and 125 years with galvanization are routinely used for our projects.
- Instruments on our installation machines tell us exactly, at any given time, how much load the pile can carry. For this, the helical pile installation is very precise and accurate, and we know at any time the load carrying capacity of the pile. We do not stop driving the pile until and unless the project requirements have been met and exceeded. At the end of the project, we provide installation records (signed and sealed by an engineer), and letters of assurance certifying that the piles installed will meet the project requirements. Installation of the piles and final certifications is conducted in close co-operation with the structural engineer and geotechnical engineer of the project. For smaller projects, private owner projects, localized or temporary work (which are small in size and do not have an independent structural or geotechnical engineer), BC Helical Piles will provide engineering assistance to the client, and will offer these services, upon request.
- Helical piles work in sand, clay, peat, gravel, fill; the only soil where they cannot be installed is rock;
- Helical piles are excellent for remote construction, difficult to access sites or sites where there are no services (electricity or water). If a pick-up truck can get close to the site, we are able to install the helical piles. The installation equipment is self-propelled, fits through regular doors, climbs or descends stairs and does not require electricity.
- Helical piles are a much superior, from an environmental sustainability point of view, to concrete foundations. The environmental footprint and carbon footprint of helical pile foundations if far less than the one of comparable traditional concrete foundations.
- Helical pile foundations for a house can be installed in one or two days; construction of the house can proceed immediately after this; there is no wait time for concrete to set (since there is no concrete), no inspections needed from the city inspectors (there is nothing to inspect). In most cases, there is no excavation needed. No forming to be done or strip, no rebar to be bent and placed, no pump to be rented and no concrete trucks to be called on site. In the case of remote sites (cabins, mining towns), excavation, concrete and concrete pumps are not even available anyway.
- Helical piles are re-usable at the end of the project. Any rotating machine can unscrew them from the ground and the piles re-used on other projects. This makes them ideal for temporary structures, and the piles used project after project, with no waste.
- The site is not damaged or affected in a noticeable way during the helical pile installation. No soil shaving comes to the surface. The installation equipment can be fitted with canola hydraulic oil, upon request, to prevent against soil contamination in case of a hydraulic line break. This is routinely done in the industry for government and sensitive habitat sites.
Helical piles have extremely numerous uses. The most important uses are:
· Build directly on helical piles (replace the traditional concrete foundations with helical piles)
· Build on remote areas (usually cabins, in remote areas with no access or electricity)
· Build in areas where frost depth is deeper than 4’ (anywhere outside Greater Vancouver, basically)
· Build in areas with peat (several zones in Vancouver, such as East Vancouver – Trout Lake, Maple Ridge, Langley)
· Build on sites with archeological significance. Helical piles are acceptable to architects and building officials for shelling sites, such as Gambier Island, Gulf Islands, etc.)
· Raise sinking houses or buildings (repair foundations and houses / buildings which have settled)
· Repair and re-address retaining walls
· Build new retaining walls without excavation
· Support heavy loads, equipment, cranes, machine bases
· Solar panels array
· Greenhouses
· Fences
· Decks, posts
· Docks, piers
· Public boardwalks, elevated platforms over sensitive habitat
· Flag masts, posts, antenna bases, commercial, and large signs
· Tension anchors, soil anchors, slope stability anchors (soil nails)
· Elevated boardwalks, trails, bridges, any construction of marshy or sensitive habitat
· In certain cases, helical piles can be combined with geothermal heating systems
· Temporary support structures (since the piles are removable at the end of the project)
- Helical piles are excellent in caring compression loads. But they are just as good in resisting tension forces as well.
- They are very reliable. Research and huge amount of tests and studies have been conducted over the last 50 years, which improved the helical pile accuracy to an art. The factor of safety is 2, and the failure more is serviceability (the pile is considered failed if it will sink by 3/8” at 200% the required load).
- Several million helical piles have been installed to date at countless buildings, and still, failures are extremely rare and hard to find; the few case studies of failures presented at professional conferences all steam from failure in quality control during the installation and miscommunication between project participants. Helical piles are one of the most reliable foundation systems! With these facts eliminated, helical piles will not fail!
- Helical piles are excellent in earthquake and lateral loads.
- Helical piles are immune to soil heave, floods, poor soils, peat and organic soils, fill or contaminated sites.
- Helical piles last a long time, without any protection; they are designed to last between 55 to 135 years in the Vancouver soils (without any galvanization) and between 140 to 340 years (with galvanization). Other methods of pile protection, such as anode protection or cathode protections are available. With cathode protection, the pile service life is indefinite. Based on the project requirements, exact service life design would be provided by BC Helical Pile engineers to ensure that the helical piles will outlast your project. Service life designs of 80 years for black steel (non-galvanized) and 125 years with galvanization are routinely used for our projects.
- Instruments on our installation machines tell us exactly, at any given time, how much load the pile can carry. For this, the helical pile installation is very precise and accurate, and we know at any time the load carrying capacity of the pile. We do not stop driving the pile until and unless the project requirements have been met and exceeded. At the end of the project, we provide installation records (signed and sealed by an engineer), and letters of assurance certifying that the piles installed will meet the project requirements. Installation of the piles and final certifications is conducted in close co-operation with the structural engineer and geotechnical engineer of the project. For smaller projects, private owner projects, localized or temporary work (which are small in size and do not have an independent structural or geotechnical engineer), BC Helical Piles will provide engineering assistance to the client, and will offer these services, upon request.
- Helical piles work in sand, clay, peat, gravel, fill; the only soil where they cannot be installed is rock;
- Helical piles are excellent for remote construction, difficult to access sites or sites where there are no services (electricity or water). If a pick-up truck can get close to the site, we are able to install the helical piles. The installation equipment is self-propelled, fits through regular doors, climbs or descends stairs and does not require electricity.
- Helical piles are a much superior, from an environmental sustainability point of view, to concrete foundations. The environmental footprint and carbon footprint of helical pile foundations if far less than the one of comparable traditional concrete foundations.
- Helical pile foundations for a house can be installed in one or two days; construction of the house can proceed immediately after this; there is no wait time for concrete to set (since there is no concrete), no inspections needed from the city inspectors (there is nothing to inspect). In most cases, there is no excavation needed. No forming to be done or strip, no rebar to be bent and placed, no pump to be rented and no concrete trucks to be called on site. In the case of remote sites (cabins, mining towns), excavation, concrete and concrete pumps are not even available anyway.
- Helical piles are re-usable at the end of the project. Any rotating machine can unscrew them from the ground and the piles re-used on other projects. This makes them ideal for temporary structures, and the piles used project after project, with no waste.
- The site is not damaged or affected in a noticeable way during the helical pile installation. No soil shaving comes to the surface. The installation equipment can be fitted with canola hydraulic oil, upon request, to prevent against soil contamination in case of a hydraulic line break. This is routinely done in the industry for government and sensitive habitat sites.
Helical piles have extremely numerous uses. The most important uses are:
· Build directly on helical piles (replace the traditional concrete foundations with helical piles)
· Build on remote areas (usually cabins, in remote areas with no access or electricity)
· Build in areas where frost depth is deeper than 4’ (anywhere outside Greater Vancouver, basically)
· Build in areas with peat (several zones in Vancouver, such as East Vancouver – Trout Lake, Maple Ridge, Langley)
· Build on sites with archeological significance. Helical piles are acceptable to architects and building officials for shelling sites, such as Gambier Island, Gulf Islands, etc.)
· Raise sinking houses or buildings (repair foundations and houses / buildings which have settled)
· Repair and re-address retaining walls
· Build new retaining walls without excavation
· Support heavy loads, equipment, cranes, machine bases
· Solar panels array
· Greenhouses
· Fences
· Decks, posts
· Docks, piers
· Public boardwalks, elevated platforms over sensitive habitat
· Flag masts, posts, antenna bases, commercial, and large signs
· Tension anchors, soil anchors, slope stability anchors (soil nails)
· Elevated boardwalks, trails, bridges, any construction of marshy or sensitive habitat
· In certain cases, helical piles can be combined with geothermal heating systems
· Temporary support structures (since the piles are removable at the end of the project)