Helical Piers at Hood Plant – Charlestown, MA

September 17, 2011

Foundation Problem: As part of the building renovations, two new emergency generators were planned to reside outside the building. This area of Charlestown was filled-in some time ago and the soils are not suitable to support heavy equipment without excessive settlement.

Project Considerations: The generators are located just outside an existing building. Due to their close proximity to the existing building, driven piles could not be utilized. Helical piers provided a vibration-free means for supporting the generators over the poor soils.

Helical Piers: A total of 24 piles were installed in three working days. The helical piles effectively screwed through the poor fill soils and anchored into the better load bearing soils below. The final pile lengths varied from about 18 feet to 24 feet deep.