Equipment and expertise
Historically equipped to construct helical pile deep
foundations, Almita currently employs more than 20
excavator-based helical piling rigs and has added two driven
piling rigs to its fleet. To support pile installation in firmer
soils, or in mid-winter frost conditions, Almita also has three
drilling units (two truck-based and one excavator-based)
that can perform pre-drilling prior to helical pile installation.
Almita’s helical piling units are able to install piles up to 40
feet in length and its driven piling units are capable of installing
up to 60-foot-long piles. When required, the company is able
to add extensions to all of its piles in order to reach deeper
embedment depths.
“We also provide helical piles and accessories to installers
who have their own installation equipment and may simply
need piles and engineering support,” said Baillie. “We stock
piles and a variety of capping accessories for immediate
purchase, sell drive heads and attachments to those same
installers, and even offer rental units as an alternative.”
Almita’s clients have come to rely on the safe and professional
execution of its foundation construction projects. One such
example is the work done by Almita on Edmonton’s River
Valley Mechanized Access project, which provided a funicular
and allowed for barrier-free access to the river valley trail
systems. The original design for the funicular foundations
called for 220 micropiles, ranging from six to 19 metres in
depth, but considering the tight project deadlines, the steep
slope and the winter construction conditions, the client
anticipated that the micropile construction would be difficult
and time consuming. Therefore, they approached Almita to
provide an alternative helical pile design and, in response,
Almita performed static load tests, finalized designs,
fabricated piles and started the installation within a month
of being contacted.
“However, the soils proved to be firmer than anticipated
due to the extensive excavation for the foundation
benches,” said Baillie. “So we quickly adapted the design,
performed a production load test to validate the modified
design and completed the helical foundations within
one month; on schedule and on budget, and saved the
City of Edmonton 25 per cent in cost versus the original
micropile design.”
COVER FEATURE
34 Q2 2019 www.pilingcanada.ca
/www.pilingcanada.ca
