High-Capacity Helical Pile Support for St. Mary’s Sugar Refinery

Project Overview

Foundation work at the St. Mary’s Sugar Refinery in Jeanerette, Louisiana, required a deep foundation system capable of supporting substantial axial loads while also addressing lateral loading requirements.

MAGNUM Geo Solutions provided the foundation engineering, while Post Tension Specialists installed 32 MAGNUM® MH5368 Helical Piles. The foundation system combined high-capacity helical piles, battered pile orientations and grouted reinforcement to meet the project requirements.

The Challenge

The refinery project required piles capable of reaching an ultimate capacity of 142 tons. In addition to the substantial compression requirement, the foundation system also needed to resist lateral loads.

Therefore, the pile configuration had to address both axial and lateral performance. The project also required a method of limiting grouping effects where multiple piles worked together within the foundation system.

The MAGNUM Solution

To meet these requirements, Post Tension Specialists installed 32 MAGNUM® MH5368 Helical Piles under the foundation design provided by MAGNUM Geo Solutions.

Crews battered selected piles to resist lateral loading and help prevent grouping effects. In addition, they installed reinforcing steel within the upper 6 feet of the piles and filled this section with grout to provide additional lateral resistance.

The foundation system included:

• 32 MAGNUM® MH5368 Helical Piles
• 142-ton ultimate pile capacity
• Battered piles for lateral resistance
• Reinforcing steel within the upper 6 feet
• Grouted upper pile sections for additional lateral resistance
• Compression testing to verify pile capacity

Following installation, crews compression tested the piles. All tested piles achieved the specified capacity.

Project Highlights

Project Date: February 2012
Project: St. Mary’s Sugar Refinery
Location: Jeanerette, Louisiana
Project Type: Helical Piles
Engineer: MAGNUM Geo Solutions
Installer: Post Tension Specialists
MAGNUM Product: MH5368 Helical Piles
Pile Quantity: 32
Ultimate Capacity: 142 tons
Additional Features: Battered installation, reinforcing steel and grouted upper sections

Why MAGNUM® Helical Piles

This project demonstrates how MAGNUM® Helical Piles can address high axial capacity and lateral load requirements within the same foundation system. By combining battered pile orientations with reinforced and grouted upper sections, the project team increased lateral resistance while addressing grouping effects.

Furthermore, compression testing confirmed the installed foundation performance, with all tested piles achieving the required capacity.