How to install ground screws correctly – and why it's important
How to install ground screws correctly – and why it’s important
As the construction industry has increased its focus on sustainability and CO₂ reduction – especially in the construction of single-family houses and modular buildings – interest in ground screws as an alternative to conventional foundation methods has increased significantly. But it’s one thing to screw the ground screw into the ground – it’s quite another to do it correctly.
Screw foundations can reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 85% compared to traditional concrete foundations,
but this requires proper installation and documentation – otherwise the potential is worthless. New research from Aalborg University in Denmark shows that the classic methods for documentation, such as oil pressure-based torque measurement, are so imprecise that you would have to test every single screw. This would make ground screws unusable in practice.
“The measurements that are crucial are – torsion, rotation speed and penetration rate – and they make it possible to document correct installation. Without this monitoring of the installation, ground screws would be too risky and technically unacceptable.” — Professor Lars Bo Ibsen, Aalborg University
5 years of research into ground screw
The recently completed research project Day to Day Foundation has for 5 years uncovered what it takes for ground screws to meet the same requirements for load-bearing capacity and structural safety as traditional solutions. The result is the report “Proposal for requirements for documentation of steel screw pile projects”, published by Aalborg University in collaboration with geotechnicians from Andreasen & Hvidberg and BAYO. S Ground Screws – with support from Innovation Fund Denmark.
The purpose is to provide engineers, the insurance industry, contractors and authorities with a common technical framework for how documentation of ground screws should take place, so that the solution can be used in all types of construction – now and in the future.
BAYO.S. is ready for the future requirements for documentation
BAYO. S has been involved in the development of a new innovative system of software, measuring devices and assembly machines, so that it is now possible to document correct installation and the actual load-bearing capacity of the ground screws, and in this way set new standards for the use of screw foundations in construction.
With the new systems BAYO S can document according to the current norms and standards – but is also ready for future requirements for documentation of correct installation.
Read the full report from Aalborg University here: Recommendation: Execution of special geotechnical works- Steel Screw Piles. – Aalborg Universitets forskningsportal
