Building foundations, saving money in Western Canadian oil patch

Building foundations applications include compressor stations, pipelines, lift stations, well-site buildings

Using helical screw piles for constructing well pads or building foundations saves money for oil producers and services companies, according to Roterra business development manager Calvin Vasileff.

A Roterra excavator installing screw-piles.

With the price of crude in free fall, the oil patch is tightening its belt. Efficiency and innovation- “a better job with less” – are the name of the game in a low-price environment. In the case of Roterra, that means building better building foundations for less money.

“Based on some studies that we’ve done, I would say that typically we’re around 30 per cent cheaper than a driven pile,” said Vasileff. “Applications include compressor stations, above-ground pipelines, lift stations, well-site buildings, pumpjack and tank pads – there’s probably about a thousand different things that you could put on top of a screw pile.”

The screw-piles are manufactured at Roterra’s facility just outside Edmonton in Acheson, Alta. Fabricators weld a helix onto the bottom of the pile, which is a steel pipe engineered for the project at hand. Then a “hat” is fixed to the top of the pile. The excavator-mounted drive-head fits onto the hat and turns it like a drill. Roterra uses excavators ranging from 50,000 up to 400,000 foot-lbs. of torque.

Screw-piles are appropriate for a wide range of building foundations, including large commercial buildings.

Vasileff says schedules are often compressed in the oil patch and that’s where screw-piles really shine.

“We can install screw-piles very quickly, even in remote locations,” he said. “We can make sure all of the engineering quality control criteria are met. Take care of logistics on-site. Then take it out to site and install it. We do everything in-house, which is a big advantage.”

Getting the engineering right is important when using screw-piles. Vasileff says Roterra’s in-house engineering team ensures the foundation is appropriate for the planned loads and soil.

Roterra began business in 1992 as a manufacturer and evolved into providing screw-piling services. The company recently added pile-driving to its repertoire in order to offer customers a complete line of foundation services.

“Both screw-piles and driven piles have their purposes depending on loads,” said Vasileff. “Depending on the job, we can use both types to save the customer money.”

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