Introduction: Why it's Hard to Build in Winnipeg

Winnipeg is well-known for having some of the most punishing construction conditions in North America. Expansive soils, high groundwater, freezing winters, heavy rainfalls, short summers... we put up with a lot.

When it comes to the big challenges construction projects are facing in our area, there's no place they're felt more painfully than in the foundation phase.

This is an all-too-common area for delays, setbacks, budget overruns, and frustrations. Why? Because for decades, the usual "go-to" foundation option for many projects has been poured concrete piles. And while there's nothing inherently wrong with that, concrete comes with its own challenges in this region.

Digging holes and pouring concrete can be a serious headache when soils are saturated, loose, weak, or frozen. Is it possible? Sure. But it takes a lot more time, effort, cost, and hassle.

So, what's the alternative? Helical pile foundations.

Helical piles overcome three of the biggest construction challenges contractors and builders in Winnipeg deal with. Thanks to their unique design and installation, they transform your foundation phase into a quick, simple, and pain-free process.

In today's blog post, you'll uncover the top three challenges facing Winnipeg construction projects - and discover exactly how a helical pile foundation can keep your build:

Challenge One: Short Construction Season

We don't really have a traditional "construction season" in Manitoba... it's more like a "construction sprint." Our long winters mean there's less time to make progress when weather conditions are good, so the rush is on to "make hay while the sun shines" (so to speak).
This leaves builders with two main options:
1: Work through the warm season and push hard.2: Work through the winter to keep things moving.
No matter which option you choose, it comes with its own difficulties:
1: Pushing hard in the warm season makes for tight timelines and strict schedules.2: Working in the winter can present logistical and practical problems.
In either case, the usual foundation methods come with a range of concerns. Take a typical poured concrete foundation, for example. You need to dig holes, place formwork, lay rebar, pour the concrete, and wait for it to cure.
This adds time, complexity, and uncertainty, to your project. What happens if soil conditions are worse than expected, or if it rains for 3 days straight? Delays, re-work, change orders, and frustration.
With such a short building season, you can't afford to give-up days, or even weeks, of time like that.

And what about when winter hits? Once that happens, it gets really annoying to install something like a poured concrete foundation. You'll need to use chemical additives, hot water for mixing, heating and hoarding, not to mention the potential for improper curing in cold temps.

You need a foundation solution that's fast to install, isn't prone to weather delays, and won't be affected by sub-zero winter conditions.

Maximize Your Build Window with Helical Piles

One of the biggest (and most valuable) advantages a helical pile foundation offers your project is time. Compared to other options, helical piles can save you weeks on your foundation phase. This greatly reduces your risk exposure and allows for more confident scheduling.
When you choose helical piles for your Winnipeg project, what you're actually choosing is to bypass the most common bottlenecks and headaches in foundation work:

Challenge Two: Expansive Clay & High Groundwater

Winnipeg’s glacial geological history has left a legacy of, ahem, what you might call "unique" soil conditions. The massive ice sheet which once churned across our province left behind a tricky blend of clay, silt, muck, and glacial till.
This is what's affectionately known as Manitoba gumbo - and it's notorious for shifting, sinking, and swelling.

It's why so many homes and structures in our city experience foundation problems at some point in their life. All that movement and pressure underground causes plenty of issues above-ground.

Concrete foundations can be prone to heaving due to their inherent design. Because a concrete pile is the same diameter down the entire length (except when using a belled-end), it generates significant amounts of skin friction between its surface and the soil.

As the soil moves, particularly through our freeze-thaw cycle, it exerts an enormous amount of pressure on the concrete pile. Uplift skin friction can ultimately force that pile upwards (heave) and cause damage to the structure above. This is a particular risk if the concrete piles are supporting a relatively light, unheated structure like a steel frame building.

Another big issue that comes with Winnipeg soil is the high groundwater table that's present in many areas of our city - especially near rivers.
When you dig or drill into these conditions, you'll often run into problems with water backfilling the hole or material collapsing into it. Overcoming this usually requires costly dewatering or installing time-consuming pile casings.

Helical Piles for Expansive Clay and High Groundwater

When comparing helical piles versus concrete piles in areas of expansive soil or high groundwater, you'll find the former option offers distinct advantages.
Helical piles are a displacement foundation, meaning they don't require material to be removed for installation. Instead, the pile pushes soil down and to the sides - which incidentally helps compact the material as well.

This eliminates the need for excavation, which in-turn means you don't need to worry about:

Okay, so helical piles can make your foundation install significantly faster, easier, and cleaner. But, what about their long-term reliability in expansive soils? Here too, you'll find they offer better performance than other solutions.
Remember that concrete piles are prone to uplift forces because of the high skin friction that exists between their surface and the soil. The large-diameter shaft combined with the rough texture of concrete allows the soil to exert significant force on the pile.
When you look at the design of a helical pile, you'll notice it has a relatively narrow pile shaft compared to the diameter of the helix plate. This more slender shaft offers less surface area for the surrounding soil to "bite" onto, decreasing skin friction and uplift forces.

Another aspect that helps helical piles resist soil heave is the fact we embed the helix plate below the "active zone" that's prone to movement. The combination of anchoring in stable soil and reduced skin friction work together to prevent heaving or sinking - even under lightweight structures.

Oh, and one more thing to consider. Since helical piles aren't prone to soil heave, they can actually sit in the ground unloaded with no concerns. You could have your helical foundation installed months in advance and it'll be ready to use whenever you're ready to build.

Project Highlight: Success on the Red River

As proof of our point: we recently worked with a local custom home builder who encountered high groundwater when drilling for concrete piles near the Red River. The project faced either the costs of dewatering or delays (and hassles) of installing pile casings.

Challenge Three: Building in the 'Coldest City'

You might not know this, but Winnipeg was once voted one of the coldest cities in the entire world. Of course, if you live here you don't really need someone else to tell you that it gets pretty frosty.
Our bitter cold and long winters make for some of the most difficult construction conditions you'll find anywhere in Canada (outside of the far north, anyway). Which is exactly why a lot of building activity grinds to a halt, or at least significantly slows down, in the frigid season.
One of the first areas to take a hit in winter is, unsurprisingly, foundation work.
Prepping a site, digging holes, and pouring concrete, becomes a heck of a lot more labour-intensive when the mercury plunges into the negatives. Heating and hoarding alone consumes time and money - forcing builders to choose between shouldering the headache or delaying progress.
What you need is a foundation that will happily install in the wintertime without requiring all kinds of additional time, effort, and cost.

Winter Foundations in Manitoba: No Heating, No Hoarding, No Delays

As we've already established, helical piles require zero cure time because they're made entirely from steel. Plus, no need for digging or drilling holes. You can think of them like a "dry" foundation - no water, no additives, no keeping them at a certain temperature.
In order to install a helical pile foundation in winter here in Winnipeg, we first need to bust-through the initial frost so the helix plate can "bite" the ground. This is typically done either by some minor drilling or defrosting the upper soil layer with a heating rod.
Compared to traditional heating and hoarding, we only need to warm a very small and specific area to install a helical pile. And that's only if the ground is so unbelievably frozen we can't pre-drill.

Once the pile is able to get traction, the shape of the helix plate naturally pulls it down as rotational force is applied. The rest of the installation proceeds exactly as it would in any other season!

With a helical piles, you won't have to choose between undertaking a difficult cold-weather install or waiting until spring. You can have your foundation installed smoothly and quickly even in harsh weather, allowing you to make the most of the winter season.

Conclusion: A Smarter Way to Build in Winnipeg

Building in the 'Peg requires a foundation that's every bit as tough as the people who live here. We're not anti-concrete at Glawson Piling, but when it comes to overcoming the common construction challenges our region faces... helical piles offer serious benefits.

One way you can think of helical piles is that they're not simply another foundation option - they're a risk-management tool. They help you protect your schedule, your budget, and your operations.
We can't change the soil or climate here in Winnipeg. What we can change are the tools, techniques, and technologies, we use to build.
Whether you're dealing with high groundwater tables, tight deadlines, winter construction, or some other challenge, our team is here to get you out of the ground faster. Taking an engineering-first approach to every foundation we work on, our goal is to make the entire process fast, friendly, and easy.
Contact us today and get answers to your questions, a foundation consult, or a free estimate!