Screw Pile Pros News
February 2025
Building Foundations, Transforming Communities
"When Screw Pile Pros was invited to collaborate on the Cenovus’ Indigenous Housing Initiative (IHI) in Conklin, Alta., they knew this project was about more than just construction – it was an opportunity to make a lasting impact, says Ronda Bertram, senior project manager at Screw Pile Pros. Cenovus, a Canadian-based integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alta., announced in January 2020 that they were going to do a housing program for the First Nations and Métis communities that live and work where their sites are located. The initiative aimed to provide sustainable, long-term housing for Indigenous communities in the area, presenting both a technical challenge and a chance to address a critical social need. “It was quite an amazing experience to work on,” said Bertram. “I sat with (the director of) Cenovus, Trenton Zacharias… and he said to me, ‘We did this because it was the right thing to do.’ And I was just so moved by that. “Mat (Bergevin) and I are still in awe of what we were able to be a part of and accomplished in such a short period of time.The Conklin area posed a variety of technical hurdles, including unpredictable soil conditions, a huge slope in the ground, lack of grading, time pressure for craning homes, scheduling pile installations while leaving lots open for delivery of the homes to be craned, managing and co-ordinating crews for pile installation and a welding team, and a very tight installation timeline that had to be accurate."
October 2023
The Stability and Flexibility of Helical Piles
"Screw Pile Pros have added another project to their extensive experience in the installation of engineered helical piles.
The Centennial Arena in Brooks, Alta., was constructed in 2010 – a 74,000-square-foot multi-purpose facility that seats 1,704 people along with a running track, concessions and an NHL-size ice surface (200 by 85 feet). Massive ice-making machinery was installed to maintain the frozen surface of the rink, but 12 years into operation it became apparent that the vibration of that equipment was destroying the supporting concrete floor.
All the equipment in the arena ice-making room was removed and the crumbling concrete floor broken up and hauled away – a big undertaking on its own. To prevent the same damage from happening again, Pharaoh Engineering of Medicine Hat, Alta., developed an engineering design that would use helical piles to absorb the vibrations and help support the new floor. That’s where Edmonton Screw Pile Pros came in to provide certified helical pile installation according to the engineered foundation design. “In this project, they wanted piles all along the perimeter and then in the centre,” said Edmonton Screw Pile Pros president Mat Bergevin. “This gave us challenges because there were electrical systems present underground, as well as some drainage structures. That meant we had to cancel several piles in the design and use larger diameter piles where the ice-making equipment would be sitting.
The one-man crew – Bergevin – installed a total of 20 helical piles. Twelve 3.5-inch-diameter by eight-feet-long piles were placed around the perimetre: eight to a depth of eight feet and the remaining four piles welded to an extension for a final depth of 16 feet. In the centre area that would be beneath the ice-making equipment, Bergevin put down eight 4.5-inch-diameter piles to a depth of eight feet.
According to the engineer’s design, these larger diameter piles would better absorb the vibration of the equipment and take the stress off the concrete floor.”
