Fat Boy Construction :: New Home :: Commercial :: Residential ~ Commercial Underpinning

Fat BoyConstruction ~ Commercial Underpinning

Fat Boy Construction is the area’s foremost expert in commercial building foundation underpinning. Fat Boy Construction searched far and wide for a piling solution that would deliver optimal performance in unstable area valley riverbed soils. Our research led us to a strategic partnership with International Marketing and Research (IMR) in Denver, Colorado. IMR is the region’s manufacturer and provides structural and geotechnical engineering support for the most advanced foundation underpinning system available today, the Heli-Pile Foundation Repair System. The Heli-Pile helical pier is perfectly suited for area soils and the depths they must reach to find load bearing strata and/or resistance.

The helix of the helical pier (or the load bearing plate) screws into the soil driven by hydraulics with precise measurement of the hydraulic pressure, which then correlates to the load that the pier can support. Each pile is then torque tested to prove load bearing capacity. Once the helical pier is driven to a sufficient depth pressure or load bearing strata is reached the weight of the structure is then transferred to the stable soil through the helix (load plate). The structure can then be raised to its original level position by hydraulic force.

The patented Heli-Pile Foundation System is an economical and dependable underpinning solution. It is quick to install, predictable, and easily measurable which is why it’s a building code evaluated and accepted system. We can now offer continuous torque monitoring during installation and all data is recorded, then can be computer downloaded for the homeowner or the engineer in charge. The Heli-Pile is well suited for commercial foundation underpinning because it works in limited access areas and environmentally sensitive areas. Heli-Pile piers are capable of holding up to 100,000lbs each and are available in solid or tubular shafts manufactured from galvanized, high strength steel in the U.S.A. Currently piers are being developed that will accept loads up to 300,000lbs each.

Our most recent project was for Anheuser-Busch underpinning and raising one wing of the migrant housing complex at their hop farm near Bonners Ferry, Idaho. We drove 27 piers to an average depth of 90ft and then raised the building to the engineer’s specs.

Trust your next foundation stabilization, underpinning, or foundation lifting project to the pros at Fat Boy Construction backed by the engineering support of IMR and the incredible patented Heli-Pile Pier Foundation System.

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Anheuser-Busch migrant housing complex near Bonners Ferry.	2700 feet of 3 inch tubular pile, with multiple helices.	Access ditch with footings prepared.

Close-up view of footing cut-outs.	Note visible drop in concrete balcony.	Balcony deflection causing railing to bend.

Concrete block construction, including interior walls, with 6 inch concrete floor and cantilevered balconies.	Beginning installation of 27 piles.	Each pile goes to average depth of 90 feet before achieving. Required torque.

Underpinning brackets installed and ready to lift the building.	Piles driven, each tested with the shear pin device standing on the footing.	All the brackets installed along the side of the building.

	A rare occasion of piles placed so close together, note the large crack in the wall above the bucket needing support.