Micropiles, Caissons, and Helical Piles: Which Foundation Fits Your Site?
Understand how loads, ground conditions, equipment access, and connections to the building affect the choice of micropiles, drilled caissons, or helical piles.
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Specialty Foundation Engineering Guides
Guides for deep-foundation options, restricted access, existing foundations, and excavation beside existing structures.
Specialty foundation decisions depend on loads, geotechnical information, existing foundations, access for installation, and the relationship to nearby excavation. These guides cover system selection alongside the support of existing construction where those questions overlap.
Read the articles before the foundation scope is fixed, then use the related services and project records to identify the information and coordination responsibilities that should be discussed in a proposal.
Planning guides
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San Diego Basement Shoring: Geologic Maps, Site Conditions, and Nearby Foundations
What San Diego hazard maps establish, and why basement depth, sloping grades, ground investigation, and nearby foundations still need site-specific review.
San Antonio Adaptive Reuse: Adding Below-Grade Space to an Existing Building
Adding a basement or pit to an existing San Antonio building? See how foundations, retained structures, and equipment access shape the shoring design.
Ogden Infill Excavation: Building a Basement Beside an Existing Foundation
Nearby footings, limited anchor space, and narrow access can shape an Ogden infill basement. See where shoring and underpinning design meet.
St. George Foundations: When Soil Swells or Settles After Wetting
Expansive soils swell and shrink; collapsible soils can settle when wetted. See why the distinction matters for St. George foundations and excavation.
Los Angeles Airport Excavation: Shoring Around Utilities and Foundations
Cefali’s work at LAX and Hollywood Burbank Airport shows how utilities, large foundations, existing structures, and construction access shape shoring.
Los Angeles Excavation Beside Existing Buildings: Shoring and Underpinning
See how nearby foundations and basements affected Cefali’s shoring at 755 Fig, G-8, and USC Coliseum, and when separate underpinning may be needed.
Shoring Terms Explained Through Los Angeles Projects
Understand the parts of a shoring system, where they fit around an excavation, and how Cefali used them on Los Angeles projects.
Documented project examples
See comparable site conditions.
Review the site conditions and engineering work documented in these project records.
Quintas Press Micropiles
Quintas Press involved micropile foundation work inside an existing industrial building.
LAX - Multiple Projects
Cefali’s LAX work spans terminal, bridge, baggage, tunnel, utility, and other airport assignments. The published project information groups the work collectively rather than assigning every system to a specific location.
Project area: Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, CA 90045
755 Fig
Excavation depths ranged from 25 to 97 feet, with heavy adjacent-building surcharges, internal bracing, underpinning, and temporary pedestrian-access support.
755 S. Figueroa St. (now Beaudry at 960 W. 7th St.), Los Angeles, CA
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Share the plans, geotechnical information, site photos, and known constraints so the engineering scope can be discussed around the actual site.