A lot goes into foundations. From design and analysis to construction and repair, foundations are the base upon which all structures are built. These components need to be reliable and predictable and many products, from software to grout, are developed to ensure success for these critical components.

In response to an open invitation from Structural Engineer, a number of companies provided the following information about their products. Company web addresses are provided for immediate access to additional information. To participate in Structural Engineer Specifiers Guides, visit www.gostructural.com/specguide.

Engineered screwpile systems are rapidly becoming a top choice for deep foundation systems around the world, according to Alpine Site Services (www.alpinesites.com), which manufactures and installs screwpiles for all applications. With working loads up to 200 kips and the ability to batter piles for lateral loads, the applications are limitless. Screwpiles install in a quarter of the time of other systems and are typically not impacted by weather or other site conditions, says Alpine. The company’s unique and proprietary load testing equipment along with its torque data-logging system ensures that production piles meet or exceed project specifications.

A.B. Chance/Atlas (www.abchance.com) offers helical tieback anchors and soil nailing, such as the Soil Screw Retention Wall System, which provide immediate loading without grout-curing delays. Quick, all-weather installation and a wide range of products match challenging site conditions and performance requirements. Chance Helical piles and Atlas Resistance piers for new and settled residential and commercial structures are available through a network of more than 400 certified installers and distributors. For deep foundation applications, the Chance Helical Pulldown Micropile can achieve capacities exceeding 200 tons.

Bentley Systems Inc. (www.bentley.com) offers tools for many foundation designs such as spread (isolated) footings, strip (combined) footings, pile cap, mat foundations, plant foundations such as vertical vessel and heat exchanger foundations, and specialized footing types such as drilled pier and guyed tower foundations.

Wind turbine foundations are exposed to extraordinary stresses, which is why Dayton Superior Corporation’s (www.daytonsuperior.com) anchor bolts undergo rigorous testing and are a key component in creating a strong wind turbine foundation system. The W1 Anchor Bolt has the ability to withstand higher loading than Grade 75 or Grade 90 bolts typically used in the wind industry. Available in either #10 (1-1/4 inch nominal diameter) or #11 (1-3/8 inch nominal diameter), W1 Anchor Bolts meet or exceed mechanical properties of ASTM A615 Specification. Dayton Superior also offers W2 Nuts, W5 Hardened Washers, and W8 PVC Sleeves.

The Structural Engineering Library Version 6 from Enercalc (www.enercalc.com), which it says has been an industry-leading design and analysis package for 25 years, provides an extensive selection of structural design modules for common components of all typical building structures. Demonstration software is available, as well as a money-back guarantee. The company claims thousands of users worldwide.

Foresight Products LLC (www.earthanchor.com) manufactures the Manta Ray and Stingray driven tipping plate soil anchors earth anchor tieback systems for shoring, bulkheads, retaining walls, segmental retaining walls, foundation augmentation, and stabilization applications. Features include no excavation, no soil disturbance, and ease of installation with working capacities ranging up to 65 kips, according to the company. Proof-tested anchors with the exact holding capacity measured at installation every time means no guesswork.

Geopier Foundation Company, Inc. (GFC), a subsidiary of Tensar International Corporation, is a specialty contractor specializing in the design and installation of rammed aggregate pier systems to provide intermediate foundation solutions. According to GFC, it provides fast, affordable, resource-friendly foundation support and soil reinforcement for transportation, commercial, and industrial structures. In business since 1989, GFC has supported more than 2,000 projects worldwide. Its local engineer network assists the project team (geotechnical engineers, structural engineers, architects, construction managers, and general contractors) to develop project-specific designs for applications, including shallow foundation support, MSE wall and embankment support, slope stabilization, floor slab support, liquefaction mitigation, and uplift control.

Hayward Baker Inc.’s Vibro Piers are very stiff aggregate piers installed to support new shallow foundations on soft- to medium-stiff soils. A powerful down-hole vibrator rams and compacts lifts of aggregate as they are placed in the bottom of a predrilled hole. This process displaces the aggregate outward, highly densifying both it and the surrounding soil. According to the company, the resulting aggregate pier and improved soil increases bearing capacity, reduces settlement, increases global stability, and decreases seismic deformation. Vibro Piers are used to support multistory buildings, parking garages, warehouses, retaining walls, tanks, roadway embankments, and schools.

The Aslan 150 series from Hughes Brothers, Inc., (www.hughesbros.com) is a glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) rebar with mechanical anchorage that develops the full tensile capacity of the high-strength Aslan 100 GFRP Rebar. The “anisotropic” property of GFRP bars makes them strong in tension, but easily consumed by excavation machinery of all types. They can be considered “removable anchors” in the sense that they remain in place and do not disrupt future or adjacent construction activities.

MIDASoft Inc. (en.midasuser.com) offers midas GTS True 3-D finite element nonlinear soil-structure interaction software linking structural and geotechnical engineering — soft soils, foundation mats, piled foundations, excavations incorporating temporary and permanent structures in staged construction, settlements, slope stability, and consolidation for building and bridge foundation design.

TurboSeal, offered by OCM, Inc. (www.ocm-inc.com), is a polymer rubber gel material that was designed as a green product for modern building and foundation design and environmental concerns. TurboSeal comes in three formulations, allowing it to be used in traditional exterior wrap waterproofing (new or rehab) including complete structural wrap applications. It can also be injected between slabs or through a structural wall or floor to restore a waterproof condition with existing membranes that can’t be exposed for replacement or repair, and it’s also used for crack injection applications. As a non-curing polymer rubber gel material it also has a self-healing/self-sealing capacity that is unparalleled in the industry, according to the company, which reduces contractor liability and helps protect the property from water infiltration for the life of the structure.

Pile Dynamics, Inc., (www.pile.com) provides testing systems for all types of deep foundations: pile driving analyzer for dynamic load testing on drilled or driven piles, CHAMP for cross-hole sonic logging, PIT for pulse echo/pile integrity testing, and PIR for automated monitoring of augered cast-in-place/CFA piles.

Trueline LLC (www.truline.us) offers a versatile box piling solution for foundation retention. In this photo, Truline is used below the surface as a retention wall before the pool area is constructed. The U-shape creates a double wall and a “cell” to fill with concrete, creating a strong wall with the benefits of vinyl.