A Close Up Look at Eleven Helical Pile Manufacturers' Products

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by Bill Bonekemper

Publisher

October, 2017

This article takes a close look at the helical pile products manufactured by eleven companies - nine of which are based in the United States and two being Canadian based. The eleven companies include:

Earth Contact Products (ECP) – Olathe, KS
GoliathTech Screw Piles (GoliathTech) - Magog, Quebec, Canada
Helical Anchors, Inc. (HAI) - Minneapolis, MN
Hubbell Power Systems (HPS-Chance) – Centralia, MO
IDEAL Foundation Systems (IDEAL) – Rochester, NY
MacLean Power Systems, (MPS Civil) – Fort Mill, NC
Patriot Foundation Systems (Patriot) - San Antonio, FL
PierTech Systems - Chesterfield, MO
Ram Jack Systems Distribution (Ram Jack) – Ada, OK
Supportworks – Omaha, NE
Techno Metal Post (TMP) - Thetford Mines, Quebec, Canada

Introduction

All eleven companies covered in this article, nine based in the U.S. and two based in Canada, offer helical pile, anchor and tieback products designed for the new construction market as well as for remedial applications like underpinning and earth retention. Additionally, many of the companies offer product solutions for the marine and utility markets including alternative power applications like solar and wind. It is noteworthy that all eleven companies offer a wide variety of pile caps, brackets and other connection-to-structure products, but this article does not cover these products.

HPW published a similar article to this one in August, 2016, and since that time the industry has continued to expand with the number of products offered by manufacturers. The most notable change is the increased number of large diameter round shaft helical piles. Eight of the eleven manufacturers now offer standard products with an 8.625 in. (219 mm) outside diameter, while five manufacturers offer 10.75 in. (273.1 mm) and 12.75 in. (323.9 mm) diameter products. IDEAL Group and PierTech Systems both offer 16.00 in. (406.4 mm) and 24.00 in. (609.6 mm) products with IDEAL also offering 30.00 in. (762 mm) and 36.00 in. (914.4 mm) diameter products. It is also noteworthy that some manufacturers that do not list the larger diameter sizes in their literature as standard products are willing to provide quotations for these products as special orders.

Specialty Helical Pile Products

The majority of the eleven manufacturers offer specialty products such as pile caps, terminators and specialized connection products for a wide variety of markets and applications including:

Interstate highway signs and lights
Railroad signs and lights
Residential street lights
Oil and gas drilling and pipelines
Electric transmission
Solar arrays
Wind turbines

While these products are not listed on each company’s product table in this article, people interested in these products should visit manufacturers’ websites and/or contact the companies for additional information.

Engineering Support for Dealers and Installers

In addition to offering a wide variety of helical pile products, ten of the eleven companies offer in-depth engineering support for their respective network of dealers and installers. This support is essential in today’s helical pile marketplace – especially for installers who do not have engineers on staff. Often times deep foundation projects can be redesigned and/or value engineered, and helical piles can be used as an alternative to other piling systems that may have been specified in the original plans.

Summary of Round Corner Square Shaft and Round Shaft Products Offered by Each Manufacturer

Click here to see a summary of all manufacturers’ product offerings

Helix Bearing Plate Options

All eleven companies offer a variety of helix bearing plates with the most common sizes ranging from 8 in (203 mm) to 14 in (406.4 mm). Some of the manufacturers offer larger diameter bearing plates up to 36 in (914.4 mm) in diameter and steel thickness ranging from 0.375 in (9.5 mm) to 2.00 in (50.8 mm).

As you can see in the product tables for each company, there are also options available for both the thickness and the grade of steel to be used when manufacturing the bearing plates – greater thickness and/or higher steel grades to achieve greater bearing capacity.

Section Coupling Methods

Ram Jack is the only manufacturer that offers a threaded coupling method whereby the sections are screwed together. They offer bolted connections as well.

Nine of the remaining ten companies offer single and multi-bolted connection options depending upon the size and torsional capacity of the helical pile.

TMP is the only company that specifies welding to be used to couple pile sections for all of its products. The company does offer bolted connection options upon special request.

HPS-Chance specifies grade 2 studs for use with their 6.625 in (168.3 mm) and 8.625 in (219.1 mm) diameter products.

While MPS Civil coupling method utilizes bolts as well, the bolts are used in conjunction with a male-female square engagement coupling method. According to company literature, this patented method is designed to virtually eliminate bolt-hole elongation as the bolts are not put in shear during pile installation.

PierTech Systems also offers a patented Cross Bolt Connection. According to company literature, this patented system reduces the time to connect pile sections and virtually eliminates bolt-hole elongation as the bolts are not put in shear during installation.

Corrosion Protection Options

All eleven manufacturers offer the black or bare steel option – no coating. All the manufacturers also offer hot dip galvanizing to ASTM specifications as an option for corrosion protection.

Ram Jack is the only manufacturer that offers polymer coating as standard per the ICC-ES Acceptance Criteria AC 228 .

Building Code Certifications

Certifications by code officials are issued for each helical pile product separately as submitted by manufacturers. Manufacturers can receive certifications for multiple products, but each product they choose to submit must pass the corresponding acceptance criteria. All eleven manufacturers have received code certifications from various governing bodies. The following ten manufacturers have received ESR reports from the International Code Council Evaluation Service (ICC-ES).

Earth Contact Products
Hubbell Power Systems - Chance
Helical Anchors, Inc.
IDEAL Group
MacLean Power Systems - Civil Products Group
Patriot Foundation Systems
PierTech Systems
Ram Jack Systems Distribution
Supportworks
Techno Metal Post

Note: According to company officials, GoliathTech will be obtaining ICC-ES ESR certification for products in a matter of weeks from this publication date.

Code certifications for specific helical pile products are noted on each manufacturer’s product table (see below).

Earth Contact Products

Click Here To Access ECP Helical Pile Product Table

Earth Contact Products

15612 South Keeler Terrace

Olathe, KS 66062

866-327-0007

www.earthcontactproducts.com

GoliathTech

Click Here to Access GoliathTech Helical Pile Product Table

GoliathTech Screw Piles

175, rue Peladeau