Helical Supports – Brookline, MA

January 18, 2012

Foundation Problem: A new three-family property was being planned in Brookline, Massachusetts. Once the existing building was demolished and initial excavations were made, the builder quickly suspected the site was filled-in.

A geotechnical investigation was conducted to reveal the site conditions. A series of soil borings were advanced and revealed the site contained very soft soils. The drillers encountered about 25 feet of fill soils, 15 feet of organic soils, and a soft layer of clay below. Good load-bearing soils were eventually discovered almost 90 to 100 feet below grade.

Deep Foundation Support: The property was within a densely populated neighborhood, making both noise and vibrations major considerations in the foundation construction. Especially due to the extreme depth of the poor soil conditions, driven piles could not be utilized at this site. Helical piles proved to be the most cost-effective means of providing foundation support for this project.

Grout-filled pipe shafts were drilled down into the good soils almost 100 feet into the ground. Approximately 45 helical piles were utilized. The project was successfully completed in 10 working days.