BJ's Brewhouse

The Problem: 

A new BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse was being constructed in Pensacola, Florida in an existing mall parking lot. Settlement of the asphalt was observed in the area where the restaurant was to be constructed. Upon investigation of the soils inside the building footprint, it was determined that this area of the parking lot was at one time a construction debris pit. The debris pit, which extended almost the entire length and width of the building footprint, was found to reach depths of approximately 18 feet below grade. To prevent extensive settlement of the structure's foundation, a deep foundation system was required to transfer the building loads through the debris and into more competent load bearing strata.

The Solution:

CHANCE® Helical Piles were chosen over other deep foundation systems for several reasons:

  • No spoils would need to be removed from the site, as helical piles are drilled directly into the soil without augering or bringing spoils, contaminated with debris, to the service.
  • Vibration free installation was another factor in choosing helical piles, due to the close proximity of adjacent buildings to the work site.
  • Ability to monitor torque applied to each pile installation in highly variable subsurface conditions would allow the ability to accurately determine pile capacity in real-time.
  • Speed: The load tests and production pile installations took two weeks to complete.

Technical Description:

There were three types of helical piles installed for this project and each type was individually load tested prior to production pile installation. 

Helical Piles Supporting Perimeter Footing of Structure:

Product:

  • CHANCE® Helical Piles (65 ea.) supporting perimeter footing
  • Helix Configuration: 8”/10”/12” helical pile lead section
  • Shaft Material Type: Combination helical piles with SS200 solid square shaft lead section and RS3500 pipe shaft plain extensions.

Length:

  • Helical Pile depths ranged from 25 to 35 feet below existing grade

Load

  • Helical Piles supporting perimeter footing: 50 Kips Compression (working load)

Helical Piles Interior Columns of Structure:

Product:

  • CHANCE® Helical Piles (30 ea.) supporting the Interior Columns
  • Helix Configuration: 8”/10”/12” Helical pile lead section
  • Shaft Material Type: RS2875.203 Pipe Helical Piles

Length:

  • Helical Pile depths ranged from 25 to 35 feet below existing grade

Load(s):

  • Helical Piles supporting Interior Columns: 30 Kips Compression & 10 Kips Tension (working loads)