Pipe Pile Installation

Foundation Piling (Pipe Piling)

The primary purpose for incorporating piling into a foundation system is to reduce the potential for settlement or sagging of a building. Building structures should be supported on foundations extending into dense native soils. On sites where excavating to suitable bearing soils is relatively shallow conventional footings may be used for support. However, when excavating to suitable bearing soils is relatively deep a foundation system such as Augercast Piles or Pipe Piles should be used.

Uses:

  • Underpin existing residential foundation
  • New foundations

Advantages:

  • Less expensive
  • Equipment required is much smaller

Components required to estimate piling cost:

  • Geotechnical Engineer performs soils investigation
  • Recommended pile diameter
  • Anticipated pile depth to bearing soils

Each building site is unique. Before a foundation system may be designed the soils must be evaluated. A geotechnical engineer typically performs a soils evaluation, and then determines the appropriate pile diameter(s) and the estimated pile depth to bearing soils and then he recommends the appropriate foundation system. After the system is recommended a structural engineer may go about the task of engineering the foundation to include placement of each pile.

Foundation Underpinning (Pipe & Helical Piling)

Foundation underpinning is a method for transferring an existing building’s weight from weak soils to dense soils that are present deep below the surface.

Common signs for failing foundations are:

  • Sloping floors
  • Sticking doors or windows
  • Cracking footings and stem walls

Typical methods of underpinning:

  • driving steel pipe pile
  • screwing helical piles
  • drilling and grouting – also called micro pile.

Factors to consider:

  • depth required to reach dense soil strata
  • structural condition of the existing foundation
  • load capacity each pile is required to support
  • access requirements for installation equipment

Typically, a geotechnical engineer recommends a piling system based on site conditions and then a structural engineer determines where each piling should be located on the foundation. Estimating the cost of underpinning is difficult until both a geotechnical engineer has evaluated the soils conditions and a structural engineer has evaluated the structural integrity and building loads.

ABOUT US

The advantage of the Pile King™ patented equipment is its very nature of being compact for working on limited access sites and yet able to safely wield powerful hydraulic hammers...

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McDowell’s roots in the construction industry goes back to the 40’s working on the Denny regrade in Seattle. We have since specialized in piling and deep foundation systems since the late 60’s...

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