Why do some companys use square shaft verses pipe for their piers?
A. The A. B. Chance Company offers helical piers as both solid square shafts and pipe piers (Hollow Shaft). The A. B. Chance Certified Installing Contractor determines the selection of helical pier on the basis of the conditions of the soil, and the design load requirements. Competing pipe pier companies use a cheaper thin-walled pipe as their pier. This creates a need for additional protective coatings, as a hollow pipe pier is accessible to corrosion from the inside and the outside. Unfortunately, most pipe pier companies do not provide this corrosion protection. Based on the general assumption that corrosion activity will be proportional to surface area exposed, and inversely proportional to metal thickness, the shaft life of a solid steel pier is at least 28.6 times greater (based on 85.8/4) than that of the tubing (based on 3/16 inch tube wall thickness).
