California
Project Type: New Construction
Division: Infrastructure
Service: Helical & Resistance Piers, Micropiles & Rock Anchors
While work was ongoing at the Solana plant, Straight Line and Ram Jack were working with Abengoa on a second, 250MW solar installation in the Mojave Desert in California.
Much higher seismic and wind loads, and stricter oversight from the California Energy Commission required the system to be redesigned for much higher loads. Different soil conditions also opened the door to explore the use of helical piers for 80% of the piles in the field.
For this project, three types of foundations were installed:
10,000 12” diameter, 10’ depth micropiles
10,000 8” diameter, 8’ depth micropiles
38,000 3.5” helical piers with 8” and 10” helices installed to depths of 6.5-10”
With ten or more work crews spread throughout the 1,800 acre site, close communication was required to maintain efficiency and quality control standards.