Helical Pile Helical Pier Services For Monmouth County NJ
Helical Piles (i.e., helical piers, mechanical piles, earth anchors,
earth screws, soil screws) are constructed using steel shafts with helical flights. Piles or helical piers are typically used when the upper soil in a specific area cannot support the weight of a planned structure, and a greater depth is necessary. Many of us have seen Helical Piles in use with telephone poles, where a steel cable (e.g., the guy-wire) runs down an angle into the ground. That cable is attached and drilled deep for the tension necessary to prevent leaning.
The Helical Pile or helical pier is very similar to a screw and a piece of wood; just as a screw pulls itself into wood using the shape of its threads, it pulls itself into the earth as it is turned. The ‘screwdriver’, in this case, is a very strong hydraulic driver attached to a piece of equipment. And just as a screw gets harder to turn as it gets deeper into the wood, a Helical Pile gets stronger and tighter as it gets deeper into harder and tighter soil.
High And Dry House Raising uses Helical Piles | Helical Piers in Monmouth County NJ, and all along the NJ Shore, not only for securing the foundation of an elevated home but also for leveling, for bulkheads, for deck piers, and for retaining walls!
The Most Common Helical Pile Questions And Answers We Get From Clients
A. What Are Helical Piles?
Helical piles, also known as helical piers, screw piles, or helical anchors, are a deep foundation system used to support homes, buildings, garages, and other structures. They transfer the weight deep into the ground, into more stable soil or even into rock layers. Helical piles consist of a central steel shaft, sometimes round and sometimes square, with large wrapping screw threads, or helices, welded onto it. These screw threads or helices act like bearing plates that “screw” into the ground, offering the necessary support and stability.
B. How Do Helical Piles Work?
Helical Pile installation requires hydraulic equipment, attached to an excavator or skid steer, to rotate a pile into the ground. It is very much like driving a giant screw. The rotation process carries on until a required depth and torque (i.e., rotational resistance) are achieved, confirming the pile can support the necessary load. Extensions are an option when reaching even greater depths is needed.
Soil is displaced, but not removed or excavated. Installation torque is monitored in real time to verify capacity and minimal site disturbance.
C. What Are Helical Piles Used For Most Often?
1. Challenging locations: high water table property, environmentally sensitive areas, poor soil, in general, or limited access
2. Foundation repair or setting up underpinning for settling and/or sinking structures
3. Tension applications, such as tiebacks for a retaining wall, or maybe telephone poles
4. New construction foundations (i.e., for homes, decks, buildings, towers, wind turbines, bridges)
D. What Are Helical Pile Advantages Over Traditional Foundations (i.e., concrete)?
1. A faster installation, often minutes per pile
2. Almost immediate load-bearing capability, as opposed for waiting on concrete to dry
3. No major digging, or excavation
4. Can execute in most weather conditions
5. Lower vibration and noise
6. Often, more cost-effective for foundation projects
Helical Piles Helical Piers Used For Homes | Foundation Repair Central New Jersey And The New Jesrsey Shore
Helical Piles are referenced in construction projects using several different names such as helical piers, mechanical piles, helicals, earth anchors, earth screws, and/or soil screws. The names will vary depending on use, for instance, to provide the support necessary to stop a structure from sinking or for tension, to stop something from rising or pulling up and out. Sometimes they are used for both, especially in areas where flooding and/or inferior subsoils exist.
For residential homes, these will stop the structure from sinking in wet soil and/ or from floating away in a flood.
Common Helical Pile | Helical Pier Applications
High And Dry House Raising, based in Manasquan, NJ, covering Monmouth County, NJ, the New Jersey Shore, and other areas of NJ where water is an issue, installs Helical Piles most regularly for
A. Structural Foundation Support
B. Structural Foundation Leveling
C. Deck Piers, Instead of footings
D. Retaining Walls and Bulkhead Tie Backs