Cantsink is a world-renowned helical pile manufacturing company that has provided our uniquely designed helical piles to foundation installers and piling companies since 1988. You may be surprised to learn that the development of the helical pile has its foundations in the mid 1800’s.

Helical piles, also known as screw piles or screw anchors, have a rich and varied history as reliable foundation materials dating all the way back to the mid 1800s. Straight, wooden piles were the standard for quite some time, and as you can imagine, these required time-consuming and tiring upkeep. 

An Irish civil engineer named Alexander Mitchell was the first known author of a piece regarding the helical pile, and thus its invention was attributed to him. It was published in the The Civil Engineer and Architect’s Journal in 1848. He went into great detail about this wrought or cast iron pile and its helix shape, capable of pressurizing and stabilizing even the most poor quality soil by being screwed into the earth. Mitchell remarked on how helical piles were then primarily being used by foundation installers for the support of professional nautical accessories such as piers and lighthouses.

Their durability and ease of installation made them a popular choice, but the stability they offered in otherwise unstable and lower quality soils was what really sealed their championed use. Soon after, moorings and railway bridges were using helical piles in their foundations as well, and Alexander Mitchell decided to patent the helical pile. Within the patent, he recorded that the helical pile is typically installed with human strength, but its installation was aided in the past by animals, like donkeys and horses. 

By the early 1900s, exciting new findings in agricultural science, particularly around soil and irrigation, spurred folks on to use helical piles for fencing and farming. Over the next 50 years, helical piles were found to be majorly beneficial in the construction of anchors, tower legs, and pipelines. Today, it’s common knowledge that steel helical piles are the most cost-effective, simple-to-install, reliable, and durable foundation application for almost any structure.

To learn more about helical piles and their uses in the foundation repair and construction industries today, reach out to Cantsink, a helical pile manufacturing company, trusted by foundation installers across the country. Cantsink’s unique, patented helical design made of 100% steel and 50% stronger than other helix designs.

For more information, please call (678) 280-7453 or email info@cantsink.com.

The ability of any structure to remain standing―whether a backyard shed or the Empire State Building― depends upon the strength of its foundation. When the base of a building is compromised, the walls will come tumbling down.

When you hear the term foundation anchor, think tie-back (guy wire or tension rod). Anchors are similar to piles; they’re driven into the soil, but are more specific to tension loads to mitigate situations of uplift or collapsing walls (retaining walls or basement walls falling either away or into the structure).

 While our helical piles, piers and anchors are all utilized for foundation stabilization , the differences between them makes a ton of difference in their use.

Piers are typically made of concrete, and like piles and anchors, are embedded into soil that has a firm strata, such as bedrock. They protrude upward from the soil, and are used primarily for smaller applications, such as single homes, detached garages, and sheds―more to bear the load of the supported structure than to anchor it, stabilize it, or to fend off uplift tension.

Piles, on the other hand, are made of metal, and often resemble huge screws. They are driven deep into the soil to find sufficient support below unstable substrate, and act to hold up the structure as well as to stabilize it. They are intended for greater loads, such as multistory buildings and bridges, but they can be, and often are, used for any size structure that sits in soil prone to settlement or subsidence, or structures subject to uplift tension.

At Cantsink, our patented helical piles provide unmatched foundation stabilization. They are ICC-certified and are easily installed with basic skid steer and excavator equipment you’ve probably got on-site, which means you’ll get the job done without compromising your deadline. As a foundation stabilization solution, our helical piles, piers, and anchors bring your project―commercial or residential―into the 21st century.

For more information, please call (678) 280-7453 or email info@cantsink.com.

Cantsink helical pile anchors have numerous applications in the design and installation of earth retention systems such as retaining walls, which can be categorized as one of four types: tieback, reticulated, counterfort, and buttress walls. All these types can be designed using helical piles. However, helical tieback walls probably comprise the most predominant use of these products for construction of retaining walls, such as basement walls, which are increasing in demand due to the population increase in the communities. Tiebacks are mainly designed to provide support against lateral forces created by soil and water pressure, which can cause walls to bow, crack or allow water intrusion.

The ultimate anchor capacity is determined using the same general equations for bearing capacity of a helical pile. Tieback vertical placement depends on the soil height against the wall. Cantsink recommends that they be installed close to any horizontal crack or bow in the wall. Minimum vertical and axial embedment are required to avoid a shallow mode of failure. The axial embedment requirement will vary depending on the project specifics. We recommend a minimum axial embedment of at least five times the shallowest helical bearing plate diameter beyond the potential failure plane. Our anchors are typically installed at a 10 to 15-degree angle from the horizontal.

The number of anchors needed depends on the soil type, anchor specification, and the soil loading on the adjacent properties. The most common types of anchors are concrete mixed grouted steel tendons and helical anchors. As described below, Cantsink helical piles are more cost-effective and more advantageous than grouted anchors.

Cantsink helical tieback anchors are easily and quickly installed into retained soil with readily available construction equipment and reduced labor cost. With Cantsink helical pile anchors, there is no excavation, no spoils and no need for dewatering. Cantsink helical pile anchors and earth retention systems can be installed in any weather and can maximize flexibility when changing soil conditions are encountered (they can be adjusted in the field to meet specified load resistance requirements). During helical anchor installation, torsional resistance can be used as an indication of encountered soil properties that can relate to anchor load capacities and help prevent overstress. In addition, the measured torque is used to estimate the anchor’s capacity, using the well-known capacity-torque correlation. This quality control measure will ensure more successful load tests on-site, and will save time and money. Once the installation is complete, Cantsink anchors can be tensioned immediately and tested without waiting for grout cure or grout equipment. By eliminating the cure times and the additional equipment cost associated with concrete mixed grouted tendons, using our products saves a significant amount of project time and considerable cost compared to grouting anchors. Finally, Cantsink helical pile anchors are ICC-ES approved products, which means that they are code compliant.

Cantsink products are manufactured in metro Atlanta using the company’s patented design and 100 percent recycled U.S. steel. Cantsink’s manufacturing facility is a net-zero energy operation using solar energy to power its complex. Our products are certified to perform to the highest standards established through the International Code Council (ICC). The ICC is an independent, member-focused association dedicated to developing model codes and standards.

To learn more about helical piles, sign up for Cantsink’s free webinars and receive continuing education credits through NCSEA and AIA. Find out what effective, economical helical piles can do to provide lasting stability for retaining walls.

For more information, please call (678) 280-7453 or email info@cantsink.com.

There are several construction products, such as helical piles and piers, that are advertised as ICC-ES approved products. What does that mean to the end user?

In this article, we will briefly describe ICC-ES, the process used to obtain an ESR report, and the purpose of it. ICC-ES, a subsidiary of ICC (International Code Council), is a nonprofit independent company accredited by the American National Standards Institute and by the Standards Council of Canada under ISO/IEC Guide 17065 (Conformity assessment – requirements for bodies certifying products, processes, and services). ICC-ES provides technical evaluations of construction products, components, methods, and materials, according to acceptance criteria that are based on code requirements and international standards (https://www.iccsafe.org/products-and-services/codes-standards/). ICC-ES is the most recognized evaluation agency in North America.

For the evaluation of our helical pile and pier products, ICC-ES uses AC358 (acceptance criteria for helical pile systems and devices) issued in 2007. Per AC358, there are four requirements to obtain an ESR: submittal of helical pile product test results, calculations per code requirements, quality documentations, and follow-up inspections. The required testing, both lab and field, must be conducted by a testing lab accredited per the international standard (ISO 17025). Product design capacities and strength calculations must be determined according to the applicable codes. The helical pile and pier manufacturer seeking an ICC-ES report, must have a quality manual in place (approved by ICC-ES), and it must be effectively implemented throughout the production process – from incoming material to the final product – before it is shipped to the end user. The inspection of the manufacturer’s plant is conducted twice per year by an agency that must be accredited per the international standard (ISO 17020). Once all the requirements are submitted and the product for the evaluation is found to be compliant with code requirements, ICC-ES will publish a report to that effect and make the report available to the public. An ICC-ES evaluation report provides evidence that a construction product complies with the applicable codes, and therefore helps agencies that enforce building regulations, and the building industry in general.

Cantsink helical pile and pier products were tested by an independent testing laboratory (CTL | Thompson, certificate TL-342) that is accredited by IAS (International Accreditation Service), evaluated by an independent evaluation services agency known for its impartiality and technical expertise (ICC-ES), and is being inspected twice a year by an inspection agency accredited by IAS (AA-735). An accreditation and inspection agency’s stamp of approval means you can be confident that Cantsink’s products meet the most stringent of standards. Additionally, these accreditation bodies, such as IAS, are signatories of what is called Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) under the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). This arrangement is designed to support international trade by promoting international confidence and acceptance of accredited laboratory test data, as well as eliminate technical barriers to global trade, such as the retesting of a product each time it enters a new economy. Cantsink’s helical pile product is ICC-ES approved with ESR-1559. (http://2makvy1ffffc45t31i1e15sp-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ESR-1559_December_2021-1.pdf). As described above, this Cantsink product was tested, evaluated, and inspected in accordance with the highest standards. It is reliable, cost-effective, and can be used globally.

Finally, when reading an ESR for a helical pile or pier product, one must pay specific attention to the reported soil pile capacity in tension and compression. Per AC358, this soil capacity is limited by the least one obtained from capacity-torque correlation and axial verification tests, which are used to determine the soil capacity of a pile installed to the maximum rated torque of the product.

Cantsink helical piles and piers are manufactured in Metro Atlanta using the company’s patented design and 100 percent recycled U.S. steel. Additionally, Cantsink has a net-zero energy manufacturing facility using solar energy to power its operation.

To learn more about helical piles, sign up for Cantsink’s free webinars and receive continuing education credits through NCSEA and AIA.

Additional Resources:

ICC: International Code Council (https://www.iccsafe.org/)
ICC-ES: ICC Evaluation Service, LLC (https://icc-es.org/)
NCSEA: National Council of Structural Engineers Association (http://www.ncsea.com/)
AIA: The American Institution of Architects (https://www.aia.org/)