Custom Luxury Home Near Red River in West St. Paul, MB

Client: Maric Homes
Location: River Trail Dr., West St. Paul, MB
Capacity: 40 kip [178 kN] ULS, f.
Refusal: End Bearing, Till
Key Hurdles: Winter Build/Low Capacity Saturated Soils

PROBLEM: VersaPile was engaged to provide an end bearing alternative to concrete friction piles due to low capacity, highly saturated and sloughing soils. Due to unforeseen soils challenges the project was at risk of significant delay. Alternative end bearing piles such as precast concrete or timber driven piles meant a significant increase in overall cost. Also, the depth to till was variable and difficult to predict.

SOLUTION: Maric Homes engaged VersaPile to design and have engineered thirty-seven 40 kip piles to support the structure.

Mobilizing in the winter with a CAT 321D excavtor equipped with Pengo RT20 anchor drive, the installation crew was able to penetrate the frost without pre-drilling and install piles 40 to 50 feet deep to till.

We had fully anticipated, based on soils data provided prior to design and installation, that from the excavated depth that we would encounter till at approximate 36-37 feet and brought out 40 feet of pile. Although, some piles did refuse just prior to 40 feet, many of the piles had be extended an additional 10 feet and refused up to 50 feet deep.

Had precast or timber driven piles been selected by the customer, they would have had to abandon piles which failed to refuse and come back with longer piles. The till varied greatly from pile to pile which would have made it difficult for piling contractors installing timber or precast piles to predict. The cost increase generally born from such situations tends to be exponential as larger pile rigs are often mobilized to install longer piles and several piles are deemed unusable when they fail to refuse. Another impact typical in this such situations is to the timeline - often adding weeks to the project.

VersaPile was able to secure pipe to match the helical pile shafts in short order. They welded on the extensions and, once the piles refused, they cut the extension from the pile and installed the remaining pipe to the next pile; this meant maximum usage of additional materials. The additional cost to install piles deeper than predicted was minimized and proportional to the original pile pricing quoted. The timeline was only impacted by one day as our crews worked over the weekend to lengthen piles as necessary.

CONCLUSION: VeraPile was able to help Maric Homes find a cost-effective and timely solution for their unforseen soils issues. Thirty-seven high-capacity helical piles were installed to support the luxury custom built home. Maric Homes was happy with the results recognizing that although increased costs and timelines are not fun, that helical piles helped keep the impacts to a minimum.

CASE HIGHLIGHTS:

37 PILES FOR 5-STOREY MIXED USE BUILDING

• Qty: 37 - 4-1/2" dia., 40'-50' long shaft, 16" dia. helical
  • 185 kip [814 kN] ULS, req. torque: 115 kip-ft [155 kN-m]

Installed with:

• Primary: CAT 321D 21T Excavator w/ Pengo RT20 drive
• Support: DC Welding

View More