The typical caisson is constructed to transfer vertical or uplift loads into the better soils that may lie below a site. Fills and low density materials may not accept traditional footing loading, so deeper soils are required.

The economic solution to reaching the deeper and better soils on a site is often Caissons. The benefits of caissons include high capacity, and reasonable cost. Speed is another benefit as the modern drill rig produces upwards of 400 feet of installed shaft per day. Sizes range in 6 inch increments of diameter from 30 inch to 96 inch. Typical designers start at 30 inch diameter to allow for shaft entry, via safety liners, to confirm bearing capacities and/or provide superior cleaning at the base of the shaft.

Advantages of Caissons in comparison to Pile Driving are the reduced use of steel and low vibration. Vibration can be problematic for neighboring structures.

Auger Cleaned caissons can be constructed to very low cost by high production rates and the time saved by no use of safety liners on production holes. A well constructed auger can effectively clean a bottom without personal entry. Often, light industrial projects involved hundreds of drilled footings as the cost per unit is less than conventional footings and the sudden incidence of a fill pocket is dealt with easily by adding depth in the field until native soils are reached in that location.

HC Matcon Inc. continues to invest in Caisson equipment and our alliances with other foundation contractors allow us to leverage our own forces to produce project results that only the largest foundation contractors achieve. The in house expertise of HC Matcon Inc. can deliver your caisson project on time and under budget.