New Heavy-Duty Product Provides Significant Cost Savings Compared to Driven Piles or Drilled Piers;
220 Installed in Northern California Mixed Use Development Project


PLEASANT HILL, Calif. (March 22, 2009) — Pacific Housing Systems ™, LLC today announced full commercial availability of the Winslow Geo Pile, a rotary-installed steel anchor with single or multiple helix flights providing exceptionally high compression & tension capacity in unstable soil. Available in diameters of 5, 8, or 12 inches, the Geo Pile has a loading capacity exceeding 100 tons per unit, and is a heavy-duty counterpart to the Winslow Geo Anchor, which has a proven load capacity of over 50 tons. The Geo Pile, along with the Geo Anchor, can utilize the Company’s patented Lateral Force Resistance Device, or LRD.

(The LRD is embedded in soil by sliding its inner sleeve structure over the top end of an anchor or pile and then vibrating into the ground. The outer collar provides a large surface area displaced from the inner sleeve, supplying an efficient load transfer -- exceeding 10 tons -- to surrounding soils.)

Jim Winslow, CTO of PHS, said: “The Geo Pile not only expands our product line considerably, but allows us to provide reliable load bearing capacity to structures with much greater requirements than could be met by our Geo Anchor. In addition to its use in the foundations of buildings, the WGP will be an integral component to anyone constructing walls, bridge abutments, towers, poles, barriers, and barricades on marginal soils.”

Dave Fogelman, President of Cal Helical Solutions, said: “We recently contracted to build a large, mixed use project outside San Francisco in an area with 30 – 40 feet of Bay Mud. We examined both driven piles and drilled piers but, because of costs associated with vibration damage to adjacent foundations, noise, pollution, and additional soils prep/removal involved with those alternatives, could not deliver within budget. Instead, we thoroughly examined the Winslow Geo Pile, and after an evaluation period that included extensive in-ground comparisons and load testing, made the choice to install 220 of the 8” diameter model 40 feet deep.”

Fogelman continued: “Engineering established a requirement for each WGP to carry a load of 137 kips, with a safety factor to 177 kips. It not only met those requirements, but tested to over 200 kips, a full 12% higher than the safety number. In addition to superior performance, the Winslow Geo Pile also provided hard dollar cost savings of 19% when compared to either the driven piles or drilled piers.”

Please see the following Specification Sheet & Installation Sequence s for both the 8” WGP and LRD that are attached below:

Winslow Geo Pile™ 8" Single Flight Starter
Winslow Geo Pile™ 8" Double Flight Starter
Lateral Force Resistance Device™ (LRD)

About Pacific Housing Systems
Pacific Housing Systems is a leading provider of next-generation foundation solutions for residential homebuilders developing projects on marginal soil. The company’s WAFFLEMAT foundation-forming system and helical anchor support products are specially designed and engineered where these conditions (hillsides, areas with high water tables, firm clays/organics, expansive, rocky, and hydro-collapsible soils) are prevalent, and include the Winslow Geo Anchor and Lateral Resistance Device components. PHS products and systems enable developers to increase the speed, quality, and quantity of construction, providing savings in material costs, building cycletime, and future reliability issues. For additional information, visit www.pacifichousingsystems.com or call 925.683.2739.