Foundation/Helical Pile Contractors

[TRAK.Structural]

Anyone here do work with residential foundation contractors who install helical piles and other foundation repairs? Recently I've been asked to "approve" a recommended repair scheme that was put together by one of these types of contractors. This is part of a real-estate transaction so my info has come solely from a Realtor at this point and I do intend to reach out to the contractor but I am curious how engineering consultants go about working on stuff like this. Is it as simple as calculating the applied loads in the affected area and verifying that the published capacities of the pile products can resist the loads? Would you want to observe the installation of the piles and verify measured installation torque matches the spec.? Do you typically check dimensions of the footing after it is uncovered to verify that it can span between piles? What are the major pitfalls in being the consulting engineer working to verify these types of repairs are adequate?

I use the word "approve" in the above loosely so let's try not to get hung up on what constitutes being in responsible charge etc. etc. My intent, If I take the job, would be to perform the actual engineering myself just like when I design new structures from scratch.

 

[dik]

I generally just spec them and provide the design loads. The helical pile supplier provides the sealed design.

On one project in Saskatchewan, I designed the helical piles based on information provided by the geotekkie. It was a transformer pad with six 400,000 lb transformers... my first helical pile design.