A better option

Benefits of helical piles

Helical piles are growing in popularity in an exponential manner due to the many advantages they offer. In short, helical piles are a very versatile deep foundation and this versatility results in a long list of benefits, including but not limited to:

• Efficient installation of approximately 30 seconds per lineal foot of pile on a typical project site;
• Ability to instantly load the piles - no curing or heating and hoarding in the winter;
• They are clean - there is no predrilling or tailings/spoils, the pile is simply turned into the ground;
• Easily remediate the project site - helical piles can be easily uninstalled, reused or recycled;
• Quiet and low vibration installation will not disrupt neighbours or wildlife;
• Installation with small nimble equipment than traditional piles means savings on mobilization and easier accessibility of problematic project sites;
• helical piles are fast and cost-efficient to extend - instead of exponentially higher costs to go deeper, helical piles are proportionally more
• expensive and easily bolted or welded to a lead section to keep timelines on the rails;
• Ability to pass through saturated, sloppy and sloughing soils layers without issue - never a need to sleeve or dewater;
• Superior resistance to frost heave (adfreeze);
• Work well in tension and compression;
• May be designed as a floating pile or installed to refusal as an end bearing pile;
• Can be galvanized, made thicker or have anode systems added to increase the life of the piles by centuries;
• Modified in the field to suit unforeseen site conditions (example: a helical can be made smaller in diameter if soils are more dense than predicted);
• Various installation methods and equipment make it possible to install helical piles under existing structures or in very limited access locations;
• Light weight and easy to transport;
• A wide range of pile caps and transitions can be engineered for helical piles to support nearly any beam or structural element;
• Ability to install through frost for efficient winter building;
• Empirical relationship between installation torque and capacity mean predictable performance;
• The ability to uninstall a pile means you can relocate a pile which meets an obstruction like a boulder vs abandoning it;
• The ability to change many design aspects often results in a value engineered pile that is effective as well as efficient;
• Installation on a batter to combat high lateral forces or to combine pile groupings in a tight space; and
• Other advantages not listed.