GroundED Newsletter

GroundED is a quarterly newsletter sent out to thousands of design professionals throughout North America.

Each newsletter features a lead article written by one of the engineers or product experts at Supportworks, and also includes case studies from across the Supportworks contractor network. The case studies showcase use of the various foundation, retaining wall and slab support products offered by Supportworks.

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  • Screw Piles 
In the 19th Century

    GroundED #56

    Helical piles, also known as screw anchors or screw piles, have a rich history dating back to the original screw pile patent granted to Alexander Mitchell in 1833.

  • Testing Helical Tiebacks for Earth Retention

    GroundED #55

    A helical tieback system is a factory-manufactured steel foundation designed to resist axial tension loads.

  • Considerations for Solid Square Shaft Helical Piles in Compression Applications

    GroundED #54

    Helical piles quite literally come in different shapes and sizes. The most popular shapes for helical shaft cross-sections are solid square and hollow round.

  • Predicting Helical Pile Capacity

    GroundED #53

    Two of the most common methods for predicting helical pile capacity are the Individual Bearing Method and the Torque Correlation Method.

  • Benefits of PolyLevel® for Concrete Slab Support

    GroundED #52

    The Foundation Supportworks PolyLevel product line consists of polyurethane foams and resins for use in a wide range of geotechnical and structural applications.

  • distributed 100% electronically

    GroundED #51

    GroundED is about to change. It will soon be distributed 100% electronically.

  • Anchor Condition

    GroundED #50

    The first step in evaluating anchor capacity is to determine if the anchor has a shallow or deep condition.

  • Map of United States showing locations of expansive soil regions

    GroundED #49

    As a helical pile and push pier designer, I long for that soil profile that is "ideal" for the project...

  • GroundED #48

    There may be times when you want to document the capacity of a push pier beyond the capacity information obtained during a typical installation.

  • GroundED #47

    The company recently held its fifth annual Redefine Conference near its world headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska.

  • GroundED #46

    Consider this, you receive two widely different helical pile quotes from two contractors, for the same project and the same compression loading.

  • GroundED #44

    Supportworks is pleased to announce the addition of the Model PP237 push pier system to our existing push pier evaluation report, IAPMO ER-289.

  • GroundED #43

    The Torque Correlation Method is widely used for estimating or verifying helical pile capacity during installation.

  • GroundED #41

    Helical tiebacks are commonly used to provide additional lateral support for poured concrete retaining walls, sheet pile walls, soldier pile and lagging walls or other earth retention systems.

  • GroundED #40

    Protective coatings for steel piling include, among others, coal tar epoxy, fusion-bonded epoxy, zinc coatings and powder coatings.

  • GroundED #39

    Supportworks designs, manufactures and distributes best-in-class foundation and concrete stabilization and repair products, while also providing software, business resources and consultative trainingand support to contractors who purchase those products.

  • GroundED #38

    Small diameter helical piles are a proven, economical foundation that can be installed with relatively small installation equipment, yet be advanced deep into the ground to achieve high capacities.

  • GroundED #36

    Supportworks, Inc. celebrated a major milestone by moving into its new national headquarters in June-just two months after celebrating its 10-year anniversary.

  • GroundED #35

    Often the engineers at Supportworks will make recommendations for shaft sizes of helical piles and push piers based on the pile buckling potential.

  • GroundED #33

    Building products are commonly evaluated by third-party evaluation services to show compliance to existing building codes. These evaluations are particularly useful for code officials and design professionals to verify suitability of a manufactured product for a building project.

  • GroundED #32

    Helical soil nails are a relatively new alternative to grouted soil nailing and differ from grouted tendons in how they develop resistance.

  • GroundED #31

    Designers and manufacturers continue to provide push pier systems capable of ever-increasing load capacities and improved performance. This edition of GroundED summarizes the development of the push pier system and includes case studies of commercial applications by Supportworks dealers.

  • GroundED #30

    Here at Supportworks, we strive to be constantly innovating, reinventing and improving our products, tools and services for the betterment of the contractors and design professionals we serve.

  • GroundED #29

    Supportworks' Model HP350 helical pile system has received compliance from the ICC Evaluation Service, LLC (ICC-ES).

  • GroundED #28

    Here at Supportworks, we continually strive to better educate engineers and design professionals on the unique foundation stabilization solutions we offer.

  • GroundED #26

    The eighth issue of this newsletter (Summer 2011) included a discussion of the three most common methods used to predict helical pile capacity.

  • GroundED #25

    HelixPro®, Supportworks's web-based helical pile and tieback design software,was originally released in the fall of 2012. I

  • Foundation Nation Issue #24

    Helical piles and tiebacks are installed with hydraulic drive heads that rotate the product into the ground by the application of torque.

  • Foundation Nation Issue #22

    Helical piles can be installed in areas of limited access with smaller equipment, yet achieve relatively high capacities.

  • Foundation Nation Issue #21

    The Supportworks, Inc. (Supportworks) technical manual received a major overhaul for 2014. The new 363-page, softcover manual is literally hot off the presses, with nearly 3,000 ordered by the Supportworks network of installing contractors the very first week it was offered.

  • Foundation Nation Issue #18

    You discovered that your project requires a deep foundation to provide adequate structural support. You also suspect based on the design loads and soil conditions, coupled with limited equipment access, high groundwater, contaminated soil, tight construction schedule, or just economy that helical piles could be the ideal solution. Now what?

  • Foundation Nation Issue #16

    Even smaller diameter helical piles can develop relatively high capacities, yet be installed with hand held equipment and smaller machines such as mini-excavators and skid steers.

  • Foundation Nation Issue #15

    Design professionals are becoming confident with utilizing helical piers on their retrofit foundation stabilization or repair projects.

  • Foundation Nation Issue #14

    The torque correlation method is a well-documented and accepted method for estimating or verifying helical pile capacity.

  • Foundation Nation Issue #13

    HelixPro™ - Helical Foundation Design Software for Professionals" was released on September 4, 2012 after nearly a year of design, development and programming efforts.

  • Foundation Nation Issue #10

    On November 7, 2011, Supportworks®, Inc. received an evaluation report through the Canadian Construction Materials Centre (CCMC) for "Supportworks® Helical Foundation Systems and Devices"

  • Foundation Nation Issue #9

    Design professionals rely on site-specific geotechnical investigations to provide soil strength parameters for use in foundation design.

  • Foundation Nation Issue #7

    Soil nailing is a method of earth retention that relies on a grid of individual reinforcing strands or members installed within a soil mass to create an internally stable gravity wall/retaining system.

  • Foundation Nation Issue #6

    The term "corrosion" is used to describe the degradation of a material or its properties due to reaction with its environment.

  • Foundation Nation Issue #4

    Many designers view helical foundation systems with some degree of skepticism as a fairly new technology, especially in applications such as deep foundation support for a structure.

  • Foundation Nation Issue #2

    We often receive phone calls from designers and specifiers asking whether a hollow round shaft or solid square bar helical pile would be better suited for a certain application. This appears to be a great opportunity to provide some clarity and offer our opinions and recommendations to the masses.

  • Foundation Nation Issue #1

    Supportworks, Inc. (Supportworks) is a leading manufacturer and distributor of foundation stabilization systems for new construction applications, retrofit applications, walls and retaining walls. With major dealer support offices in Omaha, Nebraska and Seymour, Connecticut, our goal is to provide the industry with innovative solutions that are appropriately designed and tested, expertly installed and dependable to perform as promised.

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