How The Dwyer Company Supported a New Alleyway Wall at Ludlow Independent Schools
- Project Type: Commercial
- Project Services: Deep Foundation Systems, Helical Piles
Ludlow Independent Schools built a new wall in the alleyway beside its existing school building in Ludlow, Kentucky, where soft and existing fill soils reached 4.5 to 12.5 feet below the surface. The Dwyer Company installed five helical piers to support the new wall, working with general contractor Schrudde & Zimmerman, Inc and engineer Civil Solutions. Each pier was designed to support 20 kips in compression. The piers gave the wall bearing below the fill in a corridor that left almost no room to work.
Building against an existing structure with no room to work?
Quick Facts
- Ludlow, Kentucky
- Project Type: Commercial – New Construction
- Owner: Ludlow Independent Schools
- Foundation System: Helical piers, five installed under the new wall
- Pier Capacity: 20 kips in compression per pier
- Soil Conditions: Soft and existing fill soils within the upper 4.5 to 12.5 feet
- Site Conditions: Limited space in an alleyway beside the existing school
- Partners: Schrudde & Zimmerman, Inc (general contractor), Civil Solutions (engineer)
The Challenge
The new wall went up in the alleyway beside the school, which set the working space before anything else about the job. Soft and existing fill soils ran 4.5 to 12.5 feet down, leaving a conventional footing nothing dependable to bear on along that line. Digging the fill out and rebuilding it would have meant excavating a narrow corridor with an occupied school on one side.
Fill depth also varied from one end of the wall to the other. Each pier had to reach past the fill at its own location, so the foundation had to handle a bearing elevation that moved along the wall line.
Key Project Details
helical piers installed under the new wall
of compression designed into each pier
The Solution: Helical Pier Foundation System
The Dwyer Company installed five helical piers to carry the new wall past the fill soils. Each pier was designed to support 20 kips in compression. Helical piers turn into the ground instead of requiring an open cut, so the wall picked up bearing below the fill without the excavation a conventional footing would have taken.
Space governed the installation. Compact equipment handled the pier work in an alleyway with the school on one side, and the crew set all five piers on their design locations along the wall line. Dwyer coordinated the sequence with Schrudde & Zimmerman, Inc and Civil Solutions so the foundation stayed ahead of the wall construction.
The Impact
Bearing below the fill
Each pier advanced past the soft and existing fill soils to competent material at its own location.
Capacity at every pier
All five piers were designed to support 20 kips in compression.
Built in the space available
Compact equipment let the pier work happen inside the alleyway rather than requiring a wider staging area.
The existing school stayed put
Installing on piers removed the excavation that would have run alongside the school building.
Why Helical Piers?
Helical piers let The Dwyer Company support a new wall in an alleyway where fill depth changed along the wall line and working room was scarce.
- Bypasses fill and soft soils – Piers advance past unsuitable material and land in the bearing stratum below.
- Adapts to changing depth – Each pier advances until it meets competent material, so a fill layer of uneven depth does not force a single fixed elevation.
- Small equipment footprint – Compact machines reach pier locations in corridors that larger rigs cannot enter.
- Works without an open cut – Installation leaves the soil supporting an adjacent building in place.
Why Choose The Dwyer Company for structural integrity?
Deep History • Solid Choice
The Dwyer Company’s proven track record in commercial and industrial foundation systems made us the trusted partner for the new wall at Ludlow Independent Schools. Working alongside Schrudde & Zimmerman, Inc and Civil Solutions, our crew set five helical piers in a tight alleyway and gave the wall bearing below the fill soils.
Have a wall or an addition going up in a space this tight?