River District Secant Pile Project

Secant Pile Foundation Drilling in South Vancouver’s River District

Henry Foundation Drilling Inc. (HFDI) successfully completed a complex, high-stakes geotechnical project in South Vancouver’s dynamic River District community. Operating under demanding geotechnical constraints, our team delivered industry-leading foundation solutions tailored to difficult urban waterfront conditions.

Project Overview & Technical Scope

  • Project Scale: Installation of 460 secant piles at 900mm diameter, reaching depths of up to 18 meters.

  • Site Challenges: Navigated difficult soil conditions coupled with a high water table located just 2 meters below the ground surface.

  • Advanced Drilling Fleet: Utilized heavy-duty Bauer equipment, including BG39, BG30, and BG28 drill rigs, alongside a 100-ton crawler crane dedicated to concrete placement.

Engineering Solutions for Complex Ground Conditions

The pile toes terminated in a clean sand layer, presenting a severe operational hurdle: extracting casings risked creating suction and disturbing the critical bearing stratum. To overcome this challenge and ensure long-term structural integrity:

  • Specialized Airlift System: HFDI deployed a specialized airlift system to successfully finish 330 of the 460 piles

  • Aerial view of a construction site with multiple buildings, cranes, and vehicles surrounded by trees and a city skyline in the background.
  • Construction site with cranes, excavators, and a cement mixer, surrounded by a multi-story building and trees.
  • Construction site with excavators and cranes working on a project, surrounded by trees.
  • Construction site with multiple cranes and heavy machinery, including a large yellow drilling machine, near a partially built high-rise building. A worker in safety gear stands next to the machinery.
  • Construction site with partially built multi-story buildings, a crane, parked trucks, and green netting on some rooftops, against a background of trees and a partly cloudy sky.
  • Aerial view of a construction site with cranes, partially built structures, and surrounding roads, with a wooded area in the background.