About Us
Inspection Request
Contact Information
Glossary
Careers at Avalon
Deep Foundations
Helical Piles and Helical Tiebacks
For Enginners:
Typical Helical Specifications
Drilled Piers
Liquefaction Solved
Underpinning
Horizontal Cracks
Foundation Replacement
Resistive Piers
Underpinning Done Right
Mega Foundations
with Helical Piles
Solar Panel Arrays
with Ground Screws
Pipeline Anchors
Bridge Abutments
Post-tensioned Concrete
More Commercial Projects
Retaining Wall Basics
Retaining Wall Fortification
Solving Limited Access
Using EPS Blocks
Using W-beams
Excavation & Drilling
Grading
Road Washout Repair
Road Fortification
Hillside Stabilization
Challenging Hillside
Additions & Patios
Landslide Repair
Impact Walls
Avalon Supports
the Famous Rockettes
HELICAL PILES
For basic information on helical piles, please see our glossary entry on helical piles.

These are typical helical piles for residential deep foundations. The pile on the left is a 2 7/8" diameter round-shaft helical pile with a single 10" helical plate. Such a pile is generally used to support the vertical loads of a residential foundation. The pile on the right is a 1 1/2" wide square-shaft helical pile generally used as an anchor or tieback to support lateral loads, such as for retaining walls or guy-wires.
This is a 5 1/2" diameter round-shaft helical pier.

Our pier sizes generally range from 1 1/2" square-shaft tiebacks to 5 1/2" round-shaft piles. Where stout columns are needed, we install 5 1/2" helical piers, available in a variety of configurations.

Even larger piers are also available, and we are fully equiped to install them as the need arises.
For hillside foundations, square-shaft helical piers installed diagonally are the perfect complement to round-shaft helical piers installed vertically.

This system of pile (vertical) supplemented by tieback (diagonal) is often more cost-effective than conventional drilled piers.
With knowledge and experience, helical piers can be installed in very tight spaces, such as directly through the floor of a closet.

Avalon uses a portable rig connected with a long hose to a hydraulic source to drive the piers deep into the ground.

We have acheived up to a 35,000 lb capacity with one pier in this fashion.
Helical members are an excellent tool for road repair.
Helical piers create the perfect foundation for an equipment platform because they can be installed and loaded immediately, without the need for concrete to cure.
Avalon has installed helical piles, rather than drilled piers, to minimize damage to tree roots as required by the City of Santa Cruz.
Avalon installed both helical piles and tiebacks at a water treatment plant in northern California.

Engineer: Bob Patterson,
Patterson & Associates
Avalon has been installing helical piles for decades, as this older picture shows. We continue to evolve and vigilantly keep apace of the latest technologies and equipment in helical installation.
Avalon Structural, Inc.
181 Ridgeview Drive
Aptos, CA 95003
(831) 479-4389 (office)
info@avalonstructural.com
Copyright © 2015
Avalon Structural, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
CA License 677116
Classifications:  B, C-8
Avalon is a general building
contracting firm and
does not employ engineers.