Commercial Helical Piers and Pile Foundations
Site Safe Helical Piers installs commercial helical pile foundation systems for new construction in Denver and Colorado: commercial buildings, solar arrays, pipeline supports, canopies, docks and bridges. We install to your engineer’s design and hand over the records your special inspector needs.
Commercial projects we build on piles
Commercial buildings
Offices, warehouses, retail centers, industrial facilities and post-frame buildings. The Denver Commercial Building Code is the 2024 IBC with Denver amendments, and it covers helical piles in Section 1810. See the Denver building code for foundations, geotechnical testing for commercial construction and pole barn foundations.
Solar arrays
Ground-mount racking for commercial arrays and solar farms. Wind uplift and snow are the main loads, so each pile is designed for tension as well as bearing, and no concrete has to cure. See helical piles for solar foundations, ground stability in solar construction and solar ground mount installation.
Pipeline and utility supports
Pipe supports, valve and meter stations, pump stations, pipe racks and equipment foundations. Piles go in with little excavation around existing utilities. See pipeline foundation construction.
Canopies, towers and anchors
Where the main load pulls up, a helical anchor resists it in tension. ICC-ES acceptance criteria AC358 cover helical piles for compression, tension and lateral loads as one family. See helical anchors vs helical piles.
Docks, bridges and boardwalks
Pedestrian and trail bridges, boardwalks and commercial docks, where soft soil and limited access make a compact rig and little excavation worth more. See helical piles for docks and bridges.
Retaining walls
Helical piers carry a new retaining wall’s foundation past unstable surface soil to load-bearing ground. See retaining wall foundations.
Why engineers specify helical piles
Every pile is checked as it goes in, and the foundation carries load as soon as the piles are accepted.
- Measured capacity. Installation torque is recorded for every pile and correlates with capacity through the system’s published factors.
- No cure time. Steel piles carry load once installed and accepted, so the next trade can start.
- Small footprint. Compact hydraulic equipment and little spoil suit tight or sensitive sites.
- Winter work. Piles can be installed through frozen ground, although pre-drilling may be needed.
They are not the answer everywhere. Shallow bedrock, heavy cobble layers and very high lateral loads can push a design toward drilled piers, and that call belongs to your geotechnical and structural engineers. See the pros and cons of helical piers and helical piers vs concrete footings.
Special inspection and records
On IBC projects, section 1705.9 calls for special inspection of helical pile installation. The inspector records the equipment, pile dimensions, tip elevations, final depth and final torque.
We install each pile to the termination criteria on your drawings and hand over a log with the location, depth and final torque of every pile. See how to write a helical pile specification, our installation process and helical piers in Denver.
Commercial helical pier questions
What is a commercial helical pile foundation system?
Steel helical piles screwed in to the depth and torque your engineer specifies, then capped and tied into the structure, usually through a concrete grade beam or pile cap. The IBC lists helical piles as a deep foundation in Section 1810, and section 1810.3.3.1.9 sets a pile’s allowable load at half its ultimate capacity.
How much load can one helical pile carry?
It depends on the shaft, the helix plates and the soil. The Chance design manual says installation limits keep the maximum design load per pile at about 100 kips in tension and 300 kips in compression, so heavier loads use pile groups. See helical pile capacity.
Do commercial helical piles need special inspection?
Yes. IBC section 1705.9 calls for special inspection during helical pile installation, recording the equipment, pile dimensions, tip elevations, final depth and final torque. We install to the termination criteria on your drawings and hand over the log for every pile. See writing a helical pile specification.
Are helical piles used for solar farms?
Yes. Wind uplift and snow are the main loads on a ground-mounted array’s foundations, so each one needs tension capacity as well as bearing. Helical piles carry both with no concrete to cure, and the torque of every pile is logged. See helical piles for solar foundations.
Do you do commercial foundation repair?
No. We install helical piles for new commercial construction only. We don’t underpin or stabilize existing buildings.
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