CASE STUDYFOUNDATION PILES FOR 58 HOUSING A/C UNITS

Dave Austin of Hayes Construction was selected as the most qualified bidder to upgrade fifty-eight housing units in Pahokee, Florida. Pahokee is located on the northeast corner of lake Okeechobee. Dave’s first call was to an engineer who recommended Coastal Foundation Solutions as reputable foundation contractor. Dave forwarded us a soil report and design perimeters to our team for review and competitive pricing.

ANALYSIS

The project consisted of upgrading the air condition units for fifty- eight single family homes. Initial soil testing indicated that this particular site by Lake Okeechobee was susceptible to increased settlement due to high resistivity values found in the soil sampling. The concern was that the AC units and concrete pads would settle over an extended period of time.

Coastal Foundation Solutions, having been familiar with a comparable project with poor soil conditions in this locale, contacted a geotechnical engineer for direction. Hayes Construction required an engineered design plan that properly addressed the poor soil conditions while also being sure to address the possible lateral movement of concrete platforms.

SOLUTION

With the help of Forge Engineering (A Naples Based Geotechnical Firm), a design plan consisting of the installation of 58 4“ Pin Piling” (vertical pipe piling) were selected for the new piling foundation system. The piles would be driven to refusal and embedded into the new concrete grade beams and connected to the existing footings. The methodology for the design was to create a structurally sound solution for the poor subsurface soil characteristics.

RESULT

To support the new air conditioning pads, Coastal Foundation Solutions installed fifty – eight 4” schedule 80 pipe piling to an average depth of 16 to 22 foot. The piles were driven to refusal to ensure the new foundation would not settle in the weak soils in the upper strata of the project site.

CFS was able to successfully install the piling and pour the foundation pads in a period of three weeks. The project consisted of a single phase with one five-man crew to help expediate the project.

The pilings were installed utilizing our Cat 305 Excavator with hydraulic installation equipment. In addition, each piling was filled with a 5,000 PSI grout. The project entailed multiple components from our fleet of compact equipment.

The concrete for each AC pad was poured utilizing a compact track loader with a hydraulic concrete dispensing bucket. This allowed us to travel to each location and pour the concrete pads, saving time and resources over using traditional concrete pumps or wheelbarrows.

Coastal Foundation Solutions wishes to thank Brian and Dave from Hayes Construction for their professional support and knowledge. We sincerely look forward to working with them on their next foundation project.