Helical anchors

Helical anchors (also referred to as helical tiebacks) provide lateral stability to foundation walls and retaining walls with unbalanced earth pressures. Our foundation experts install helical anchors and tiebacks in and around the Tampa area.

Helical anchors can be installed with any of the equipment:

• Hand-held equipment
• Mini-excavators, skid steers
• Backhoes
• Trackhoes
• Crane-supported rigs

This versatility, along with the ability to immediately load and test the anchors, make helicals a convenient and economical solution for a wide variety of concrete stabilization and foundation repair projects.

Advantages of helical anchors

Helical anchors come with many advantages:

• Predictable capacity
• Helix blade configuration selected to achieve design embedment and capacity. Helix blades are engineered and configured to achieve proper depth and capacity needed for each specific project.
• All-weather installation
• Can be installed in areas of limited or tight access
• Installation does not generate spoils
• Clean installation with no messy grout
• Load tests can be performed immediately following installation
• Available with optional hot-dip galvanizing for added corrosion protection

About helical anchors

Helical anchors are a factory-manufactured steel foundation system consisting of a central shaft with one or more helix-shaped bearing plates, commonly referred to as blades, welded to the lead section.

Extension shafts, with or without additional helix plates, are used to extend the anchor into competent load-bearing soils.
Helical anchors are screwed into the ground with the application of torque.

The terms helical piles, screw piles, helical piers, helical anchors, helix piers, and helix anchors are often used interchangeably by specifiers. We offer all of these helical anchor services to the Tampa area. If you are looking to increase your foundation's stability these are a recommended options.

The term helical pier is more often used when speaking about compression applications. Helical anchor is used when referring to tension applications. Learn more about helical piers versus anchors.

Helix blade geometry

LRE Foundation Repair is proud to use helical anchors that are manufactured by Supportworks.
Supportworks' helical anchors feature blades manufactured with a true helix shape conforming to the geometry criteria of ICC-ES AC358, the International Code Council Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) Acceptance Criteria for Helical Piles.

If you are looking for a foundation stability solution, contact us to discuss our helical anchors and tiebacks!

Advantages of helix blades

Conversely, blades that are not a true helix shape are often formed to a duckbill appearance. These plates create a great deal of soil disturbance and do not conform to the helix geometry requirements of ICC-ES AC358 since their torque to capacity relationships are not well documented.

The leading and trailing edges of true helix blades are within one-quarter inch parallel to each other and any radial measurement across the blade is perpendicular to the anchor shaft. A true helix shape along with proper alignment and spacing of the blades is critical to minimize soil disturbance during installation.