Iowa Statewide Urban Design and Specifications

About the research

This project investigated helical pile foundation implementation for bridges, resulting in a design and construction guide. The simplicity and speed of helical pile installation, along with the ability to work within areas of limited size with smaller, more maneuverable equipment, can accelerate the construction of bridge structure foundations.

The guide provides bridge engineers and designers with direction and specifications for this substructure foundation option, which can be advantageous on any bridge project, but particularly for low-volume roads where budgetary considerations tend to be a specific priority.

The guide includes many useful design specification reference tables and also useful construction and installation documentation tools as examples and as table forms that can be used for helical pile bridge foundations.