Deep in the Woods - Georgia Pacific Englehart Facility

Helical piles rescue a project from disturbing consequences.
Georgia Pacific’s plan for investment in the Englehart, Ontario facility was impressive. They turned to WB Melback as their General Contractor. The project needed to be completed without interrupting current operations—part of a 191 million dollar upgrade and improvement program, including constructing a new woodroom building.
The equipment to be housed in this building required some pretty heavy loads, with Compression loads up to 1877 kN,
Isherwood and Downunder Geotechnical’s soil investigations revealed two major challenges at the building site. N values of 0 blows to 92 feet meant the loading requirements were definitely going to need a deep solution, and the combination of soft soils with the proximity to other buildings meant vibrations could disturb the soil, threatening the other structures.
High loads in soft soils with no vibrations meant helical piles were an excellent option. Working together, KTC Industrial Engineering and EBS Geostructural developed a solution with 3 sizes of Round Shaft Helicals. To transfer loading to the competent bearing strata 125 feet below grade, supported by 28” diameter Helical plates to accommodate the compression and lateral loads.
Time was the next opponent. Teamwork and precision kept the energetic timeline at bay. To keep this $ 191 million expansion on track, 57 Helical piles needed to be installed to a depth of 125 ft in only 3 weeks.
Grappling with challenging timelines is luckily nothing new for EBS, through teamwork and precision, our crew kept this $191 million expansion on track, installing 57 helical piles a depth of 38 metres in only 3 weeks.