Aerial view of a residential lot with a grid of installed helical piles
Helical pile industry news

What's new in helical piles.

Projects, products, dealer openings, code updates and events from manufacturers and installers across North America. Summarized by our editors, with a link to every source.

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Installer attaching helical pier underpinning brackets to the footing of an older brick home in an excavated trench

Project

Vibration-free helical underpinning stabilizes a Jersey City brick building damaged by nearby pile driving

After H-pile driving next door caused settlement at 304 Johnson Avenue, a historic four-story brick building, engineers ruled out driven piles and drilled shafts because of low headroom, high groundwater and collapsing soils. Danbro describes the fix: 20 IDEAL 4.5-inch heavy-wall helical piles advanced in short sections to bearing at about 55 feet.

Close-up of a galvanized helical pile tip and helix plate screwing into dark soil

Engineering

CHANCE engineer quantifies what extra helix plates add to pile capacity

Dr. Alan Lutenegger looks at field and lab load tests to show how much axial capacity is gained when a second or third helix is added to a single-helix anchor or pile, in both sand and clay. The post compares tapered and cylindrical helix arrangements and follows an earlier article on single-helix load improvement.

Low-impact mini excavator installing helical piles for a wetland boardwalk through a misty marsh

Project

Helical piles carry new Ogunquit Beach boardwalks built to protect nesting piping plovers

Two boardwalks at Ogunquit Beach, Maine, were set on CHANCE helical piles supplied by distributor Earth Anchoring Suppliers so beachgoers can reach the sand without trampling an endangered bird's nesting area. Crews worked in January and February 2026 while the plovers were away, and engineers chose helicals for their small footprint in closely monitored habitat.

Mini excavator installing helical piles for a sunroom addition in a narrow residential side yard

Dealer Network

Techno Metal Post adds a Columbia River dealer serving the Portland–Vancouver area

A new Techno Metal Post dealership, Techno Metal Post Columbia River, run by Nick Urban, Steve Urban and Brent, will install helical piers for underpinning and stabilization around Portland, Vancouver, Battle Ground and nearby communities. The team comes from spray foam, coatings and soil-stabilization work.

Winter helical pile installation on frozen ground for a lakeside cottage in a snowy Canadian forest

Engineering

How long do galvanized steel foundations last? CHANCE points to decades of field data

Hubbell's Andy Pendergrast explains how hot-dip galvanizing and soil conditions determine the service life of CHANCE Instant Foundations, citing inspections of units installed as early as the 1980s. It is a useful reference for owners and utilities weighing steel against concrete.

Gloved installer holding a digital torque monitor beside the hydraulic drive head turning a helical pile

Product

Foundation Supportworks publishes the fifth edition of its Technical Manual

The updated FSI manual covers helical piles and tiebacks, soil nails, push piers, wall stabilization, crawl-space supports and polyurethane foam. It includes product specs, design guidance and installation details, and the digital version is free through Foundation Supportworks' commercial site.

Ground-mount solar farm being built on helical pile foundations in a prairie field

Project

Cyntech ships 1,000+ helical piles for another Southwest battery-storage project

Cyntech Group says it supplied more than 1,000 helical piles for a large battery energy storage system (BESS) project in the southwestern U.S., adding to its list of grid-storage jobs. BESS sites are becoming a steady source of volume for large-diameter helical manufacturers.

Crew installing helical anchors for a steel telecom tower foundation on a hilltop

Corporate

MacLean Power Systems, parent of MacLean Civil helical products, agrees to buy Delta Star

MacLean Power Systems signed agreements to acquire Delta Star, a North American maker of power transformers and mobile substations. Together with its earlier 2026 combination with Power Grid Components, the deal widens MPS's grid-infrastructure lineup, the same utility market where its helical anchors and foundations are sold.

Drone view of a residential lot with a grid of installed helical piles marking a new house footprint

Association

DFI renames two technical committees to reflect its wider geotechnical scope

DFI dropped 'deep foundations' from the names of two committees, which are now the Landslides and Slope Stabilization Committee and the Subsurface Characterization Committee. The executive director presented the change as a sign that the institute's work now reaches beyond deep foundations alone.

Crew installing helical piles for a new home foundation at golden hour, with a row of capped piles in the foreground

Workforce

A new Hubbell engineer describes learning to install helical piles from the operator's seat

Zachary Motley, EIT, writes about his first months running the equipment that turns helical piles into the ground: installing flag foundations, setting reaction piles for load tests and pulling test piles. It shows how ordinary skid steers and excavators become installation rigs.

Helical pile crew in hard hats and hi-vis vests reviewing foundation plans beside their rig

Dealer Network

Techno Metal Post opens a dealership in western Switzerland

Techno Metal Post 3 Lacs, led by civil project manager Vincent Jenny, will install helical piers around Fribourg, Bern, Lyss, Murten and Payerne. It is another step in the Quebec-based franchisor's European expansion.

Two excavators installing a grid of large helical piles on a commercial construction site with stacked steel beams

Project

132 displacement piles support a 13-story supportive-housing building in Manhattan

Freedom House, a 74-unit supportive-housing building for Barrier Free Living, stands on 132 STELCOR piles about 51 feet long on a tight East Village lot. IDEAL says the displacement system limited vibration near neighbouring buildings, avoided the cost of hauling spoils, and handled large compression and uplift loads.

Two excavators installing a grid of large helical piles on a commercial construction site with stacked steel beams

Project

IDEAL's STELCOR piles rescue a stalled 25-foot-wide Brooklyn infill site

When drilled minipiles were running late at a six-story Greenpoint project boxed in by masonry buildings, the developer switched to STELCOR drilled-in displacement piles. IDEAL says design, installer and material arrived within a week, load testing finished in 17 days, and 42 piles 32 feet long went in without spoils.

Drone view of a residential lot with a grid of installed helical piles marking a new house footprint

Awards

Cleveland's Irishtown Bend landslide fix wins DFI's 2026 Outstanding Project Award

DFI gave its 2026 Outstanding Project Award to Richard Goettle for stabilizing a slowly moving 24-acre hillside above the Cuyahoga River shipping channel. The fix is a 2,200-foot pipe-pile and sheet-pile combiwall tied back into the slope, and it cleared the way for a new riverfront park. Four more projects, including one in Toronto, received honorable mentions.

Installer attaching helical pier underpinning brackets to the footing of an older brick home in an excavated trench

Product

ECP releases a low-profile helical bracket for residential slab repair

Earth Contact Products released a compact low-profile bracket for 2-7/8-inch helical piles used under residential slab-on-grade foundations. ECP rates it at 20,000 lb working and 40,000 lb ultimate load with up to 4 inches of lift, and says it needs a smaller excavation than bulkier brackets.

Excavator on a barge installing helical piles for a new timber dock on a rocky Atlantic coastline

Project

Helical piles save a failing foundation in Indiana's dune country

Crown Construction Contracting and Techno Metal Post Illiana rebuilt part of a failed foundation at a Dune Acres, Indiana home on helical piles that reach past the loose surface sand. The contractor says the approach cut excavation and schedule compared with conventional repair.

Backyard deck foundation on galvanized helical piles with U-brackets and a partly built deck frame

Product

CHANCE adds GroutForce displacement piles to its free HeliCAP design software

Engineers can now model CHANCE GroutForce grouted displacement piles, rated by Hubbell for axial capacities above 500 kips, in the HeliCAP online design tool. The update lets designers size GroutForce foundations next to conventional CHANCE helicals.

Close-up of a galvanized helical pile tip and helix plate screwing into dark soil

Engineering

New CHANCE guide walks engineers through writing a helical pile specification

Gary Seider, P.E., sets out the two usual ways to specify helical piles, by minimum ultimate capacity or by required installation torque, and covers safety factors, ASD versus LRFD, load testing and acceptance criteria. It is aimed at designers who want specs that hold up and do not inflate cost.

Crew installing helical piles for a new home foundation at golden hour, with a row of capped piles in the foreground

Event

DFI's 51st Annual Conference comes to Orlando November 2–5 with a sea-level-rise theme

DFI51 in Orlando will focus on how sea-level rise affects foundations, coastal infrastructure and the people who insure and finance it. DFI expects more than 1,500 attendees from geotechnical, construction, policy and insurance fields.

Helical pile crew in hard hats and hi-vis vests reviewing foundation plans beside their rig

People

Magnum Piering's Howard Perko named DFI Traveling Lecturer for 2026–27

DFI chose Howard Perko, Ph.D., P.E., Magnum Piering's director of engineering and a well-known helical pile author, as its 2026–2027 Traveling Lecturer. Universities and professional groups can book him through DFI from September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027.

Ground-mount solar farm being built on helical pile foundations in a prairie field

Project

Cyntech ships 160 large-diameter helical piles for an energy project

Cyntech Group fabricated and shipped 160 high-capacity helical piles for an energy-sector project. They are designed for compression loads above 100 kips and shear/moment loads above 30 kips, the kind of job that keeps large-diameter helicals in demand.

Close-up of a galvanized helical pile tip and helix plate screwing into dark soil

Code Compliance

New CHANCE cold-upset extensions added to ICC-ES report ESR-2794

Hubbell added 2-7/8-inch round-shaft cold-upset extensions (0.203-inch wall) to its ICC Evaluation Service report ESR-2794, so the parts are recognized under the IBC. Specifiers can check the current list of code-approved CHANCE products on Hubbell's building-code reports page.

Winter helical pile installation on frozen ground for a lakeside cottage in a snowy Canadian forest

Company

GoliathTech opens a U.S. helical pile plant in Cincinnati

GoliathTech founder Julian Reusing says the Quebec company is opening a manufacturing plant in Ohio, partly in response to U.S. tariffs, so it can supply American-made product to franchisees now in 33 states. Canadian-made product will continue to serve other markets.

Gloved installer holding a digital torque monitor beside the hydraulic drive head turning a helical pile

Product

PierTech launches the Heli Max, a pressure-grouted displacement helical pile

PierTech Systems' patented Heli Max pairs a displacement cone with a dual grouting module to form a sealed grout column around a helical shaft. PierTech says this gives micropile-like capacity while installing with a standard excavator, no spoils and little vibration.

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© 2026 Helical Pile USA. An independent directory of helical pile installers, manufacturers, and distributors in the United States and Canada. Listings are provided for information only and are not endorsements; always verify licensing, insurance, and engineering requirements with the company and your local building department.