Copyright © 2011-24 Helical Pile World, LLC.  All Rights Reserved.

Home | Engineers | Manufacturers | Installation Contractors | News | Technical Advisors | Contact Us

Links | Advertise | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Helical Pile World eNews Subscription Home Helical Pile World - The Global Information Source For The Helical Pier Industry


Helical Pile World Advertising CTL Thompson Testing

Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) Updates University Presentation on Helical Piles and Anchors - Now Includes Narration by Dr. Samuel Clemence

by Bill Bonekemper

May, 2014

The educational presentation provides introductory-level information for professors to use to introduce helical pile and anchor products and solutions to geotechnical engineering students - now includes narration by Dr. Samuel Clemence


The concept for the university presentation was originally conceived by Howard Perko, P.E., Ph.D. (Magnum Geo-Solutions), author of Helical Piles a Practical Guide to Design and Installation and by Gary Seider, P.E. (Hubbell Power Systems – Civil Construction) the current chairman of the DFI Helical Pile and Tieback Committee (HPTC).  The development of the presentation evolved over several years with several members of the HPTC working on the presentation and many rounds of reviews, comments and suggestions provided by the DFI’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) whose charter is to provide technical oversight for all DFI technical publications.

The committee prepared this presentation as an educational tool for geotechnical university professors for use as an introduction to the helical products and solutions.  The presentation covers basic aspects of the historical development, design theory and considerations, practical applications, case histories and references for further information.

The presentation is organized into six sections as follows:

I. Helical Piles and Anchors Defined

II. Historical Development

III. Theory & Design

A. Theoretical Capacity

B. Installation Torque Correlations

C. Buckling and Lateral Resistance

D. Minimum Depth

E. Group Effects

F. Corrosion and Life Expectancy

IV. Practical Applications

A. Shoring and Earth Retention

B. Underpinning

C. New Foundations

D. Pipelines and Utility Towers

V. Case History

VI. Continued Study

A. References

B. Organizations

The presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint format is available for downloading from the DFI website - click here to access the presentation download


The presentation also includes notes for each slide to help facilitate professor presentations.  The notes in PDF format are also available for downloading from the DFI website - www.dfi.org/update/HPTUniv01notes.pdf


For anyone who does not have Microsoft PowerPoint to view the presentation, this is a link to a PDF file version of the presentation for viewing with Acrobat  - PDF Version


For more information on the presentation, contact Mary Ellen Bruce, DFI technical activities manager, at melarge@dfi.org