Ensure You Start With Quality
Experienced crews install a product manufactured in an American ISO 9001 certified facility.
Helical Piers for the Oil and Gas Industry
Compared to concrete piers, helical piers offer faster installation, less dependence on weather, and reduction of labor-related errors, all while requiring little to no concrete.
Helical Pier Advantages
- Faster to install than concrete piers
- Configurable load capacity
- No waiting for concrete to cure and fewer to no pier spoils
- Suitable for sites with high water tables
- No costly surprises if water encountered during drilling
- Installed with lightweight track loaders
- Installation less susceptible to weather delays
- Low-cost alternative to steel cased-concrete piers
See how we’re building a more solid foundation for companies across the country
Assess Costs Aggressively
Helical piers can provide significant savings in material, labor, and time.
Defy Nature
Helical piers provide for a weather-tolerant construction process that can proceed much sooner in wet conditions.
Eliminate Uncertainties
Helical piers speed up installation schedules and reduce delays.
Speed
- Install 4-5 times faster than concrete piers
- Installation with no curing time
- Fewer weather delays
Quality
- Fewer to no spoils
- Ensures against vibration and settlement
- Engineered plans provided on all projects
Value to Midstream Operator
Cost-Effective Supplier
Helical piers can cost less than half of typical concrete caisson designs. While the speed of installation saves time and labor costs.
Ideal Support System
Common Helical Solutions
- Above Ground Pipe Runs
- Pig Launchers
- Receivers
- Valve Settings
- Compressor Stations
How It Works
Helical Piers Explained
Properly installed, helical piers must be driven deep enough to provide proper load-bearing capacity with the top helix below the active soil zone.
Once the helical piers are installed to the proper depth and torque, they are cut to the proper elevation per the foundation design.
Time is Money.
REDUCED CONSTRUCTION TIME.
In the time it takes to drill the shaft for a typical concrete pier, multiple helical piers can be installed with a single piece of equipment. In addition, there are fewer to no spoils to dispose of, no reinforcement to fabricate or install, and no waiting for concrete to cure.
In situations where belled or cased-concrete piers would be required, the time savings are even larger.
Relative Pier Installation Time
Tella Firma Helical Piers are installed with lightweight track loaders or skid-steer loaders. Because this equipment is much smaller and lighter than typical drill trucks, helical piers can be installed much sooner after a rain.
Tella Firma’s Helical Pier installation teams have installed tens of thousands of helical piers over three decades.
Frequently Asked Questions
about Tella Firma Helical Piers
What is a helical pier?
ANSWER: A helical pier or pile is an extendable deep foundation system with helical bearing plates welded to a central steel shaft. Load is transferred from the shaft to the soil through these bearing plates. The helical pier consists of segments or sections that are joined with bolted couplings. Central steel shafts are available in either Type SS (Square Shaft) series or Type RS (Round Shaft) series.
Why are helical piers “less susceptible to weather delays vs. concrete piers”?
ANSWER: Helical piers are installed with lightweight track loaders or skid-steer loaders. Because this equipment is much smaller and lighter than typical drill trucks, helical piers can be installed much sooner after a rain because they can drive onto a wet lot where a drill rig would have difficulty maneuvering on wet muddy soil.
How many helical piers can be installed in one day?
ANSWER: The number of helical piers that can be installed in a working day is a function of several factors including depth of pier installation, hardness of the soil, stickiness of the soil, whether or not the helical piers require augering for installation and of course, the number of crews being used to install the piers. A good rule of thumb is that a single installation crew can install anywhere from 30-60 helical piers per day.
How is the proper helical depth determined?
ANSWER: There are two main criteria for the depth that helical piers are installed; 1.) all the helical plates of the helical pier must be installed below the active soil line as determined by the geotechnical engineering soils report, 2.) the helical piers must be installed to a depth such that the total bearing capacity of the helical pier meets the load requirements specification of the engineer designing the foundation, including a safety factor.