Large Diameter Pile (LDP)
TerraCana offers a wide variety of large diameter piles to suit your applications, soil types, and sites. Our design team can work with your team to help optimize the piles to suit the needs of your project.
Certifications & partnerships
What is a Large Diameter Pile?
A large diameter pile (LDP) is typically a concrete pile installed using one of a variety of drilling methods such as open hole auguring, case hole auguring, continuous flight auguring (CFA), or even displacement. A reinforcement such as H-Pile, I-Beam, or rebar cage is typically installed before or after the concrete installation. These piles are often used individually to support new buildings or in connected walls know as secant walls for the purposes of shoring.
.
What’s the cost of a LPD Project?
Large Diameter Pile applications
01
Infrastructure and Public Works
Large diameter piles handle the high load and depth requirements of infrastructure projects where soil conditions are variable or difficult. For the City of North Vancouver’s Phillips Avenue soundwall, TerraCana installed 120 large diameter screw piles through variable fill over glacial till, developing a custom installation tool and termination bracket to bypass buried concrete deposits and reach the required depth.
02
Transit and Urban Development
Types of Large Diameter Piles
Kelly Augured / Bored Piles / Auger Cast Piles / Cast in Place (CIP)
In stiff soils, open hole drilling or even using a short top casing is often the most cost-effective method of large diameter drilling. If the holes stay open, bored piles can often go to tremendous depths.
Cased Augured Pile (CAP) / Cased Secant Pile (CSP)
In loose soils where cave in is a possibility TerraCana can utilize a single piece or segmental casing as required to keep the hole open and clean to ensure quality finished product. For deeper piles, this is often the most effective method.
Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) / Endless Auger
This piling method uses a continuous flight to remove soil quickly and then pump concrete in from the base of the pile. Where depth and soil type permit, CFA piles can be an extremely cost-efficient method of installing a large number of piles.
Cased Continuous Flight Auger (CCFA)
Similar to CFA piles, Cased CFA piles can be an efficient means of installing large quantities of piles in loose soils and or high water table situations. Similar to CFA piles, this method utilizes pressure to pump concrete to the base and create the pile as the casing and auger flight is extracted.
Displacement Piles (SP/DP/TCT) / Full Displacement Drilling (FDP)
Displacement piles are one of the newer technologies available, these pile types utilize the densifying action of pushing the surrounding soils aside and pressure filling the space with concrete. These displacement piles can be utilized on their own for densification or be used as piles for the structure itself. Where applicable, displacement piles are an excellent way of achieving the results of two technologies with a single system.
Rock Auguring
When rock socketing is required or even just hard soils are encountered, having core barrels on site to get through hard situations can be crucial. This method of auguring is generally better suited to softer stone like sandstone and tends to go slower as the rock quality increases.
Down-The-Hole (DTH) drilling
When even a core barrel isn’t enough, TerraCana brings in our air-powered Down-The-Hole hammers to make short work of tough rock. This kind of technology is great for hard bedrocks such as limestone and granite sites and is often also used in variable and uncertain conditions.
Types of Large Diameter Piles
Kelly Augured / Bored Piles / Auger Cast Piles / Cast in Place (CIP)
In stiff soils, open hole drilling or even using a short top casing is often the most cost-effective method of large diameter drilling. If the holes stay open, bored piles can often go to tremendous depths.
Cased Augured Pile (CAP) / Cased Secant Pile (CSP)
In loose soils where cave in is a possibility TerraCana can utilize a single piece or segmental casing as required to keep the hole open and clean to ensure quality finished product. For deeper piles, this is often the most effective method.
Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) / Endless Auger
This piling method uses a continuous flight to remove soil quickly and then pump concrete in from the base of the pile. Where depth and soil type permit, CFA piles can be an extremely cost-efficient method of installing a large number of piles.
Cased Continuous Flight Auger (CCFA)
Similar to CFA piles, Cased CFA piles can be an efficient means of installing large quantities of piles in loose soils and or high water table situations. Similar to CFA piles, this method utilizes pressure to pump concrete to the base and create the pile as the casing and auger flight is extracted.
Displacement Piles (SP/DP/TCT) / Full Displacement Drilling (FDP)
Displacement piles are one of the newer technologies available, these pile types utilize the densifying action of pushing the surrounding soils aside and pressure filling the space with concrete. These displacement piles can be utilized on their own for densification or be used as piles for the structure itself. Where applicable, displacement piles are an excellent way of achieving the results of two technologies with a single system.
Rock Auguring
When rock socketing is required or even just hard soils are encountered, having core barrels on site to get through hard situations can be crucial. This method of auguring is generally better suited to softer stone like sandstone and tends to go slower as the rock quality increases.
Down-The-Hole (DTH) drilling
When even a core barrel isn’t enough, TerraCana brings in our air-powered Down-The-Hole hammers to make short work of tough rock. This kind of technology is great for hard bedrocks such as limestone and granite sites and is often also used in variable and uncertain conditions.
Need a Foundation Solution for restricted accesss ot difficult ground conditions?
Dealing with obstructions
Every site presents different challenges. TerraCana’s field experience and in house engineering mean we’ve developed practical solutions for the ground conditions that stop other contractors.
Variable fill with buried concrete & glacial till
For the North Vancouver soundwall, the soil included variable fill over glacial till with broken concrete buried in the top 5 feet. TerraCana developed a custom installation tool and termination bracket to bypass the deposits and reach the required depth.
See it in action
Case studies
Need Large
Diameter Piles
for your next project?
TerraCana provides design, engineering, and installation.
