Lifting and supporting a newly poured foundation

Monday, May 12th, 2014 by Kevin Koval

Challenge

A contractor was constructing a lake home for himself on poor soils. The engineer employed 4' spread footers with a 4' poured wall. After pouring the footer and foundation, the foundation sunk into the soil 6" within one week. This job was completed before the home was constructed.

Solution

The solution employed 23- HP288 helical piers with an 8"-10" helix configuration. The spread footer was saw cut to allow the installation of the piers. The foundation piers were advanced to a depth between 21' and 28' using a mini excavator fitted with a 12K drive head. The piers in the center of the structure used to carry the buildings center beam were advanced using an EZ Post machine fitted with a 5K drive head to a depth of 28'. The structure was then lifted and leveled to within 3/4" This was as close to level as could be achieved due to the foundation settling before the concrete cured while being poured.