CLIENT: Various LT2 Clients
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
PRI provided on-site support for the CarbonFree Technology LT2 Projects, completing geotechnical investigations and foundation testing activities for utility-scale solar developments. Drawing on extensive experience across renewable energy projects in Canada and the United States, PRI applied proven investigation methodologies to deliver the subsurface information needed to reduce foundation-related risk and optimize design.
CHALLENGE:
Utility-scale solar projects carry significant foundation installation risk due to the sheer number of foundations required across variable subsurface conditions — including differing soil types, groundwater, and shallow bedrock. Beyond the solar arrays themselves, major electrical infrastructure such as substations carries substantially greater foundation loads, requiring a deeper and more detailed understanding of ground conditions to avoid costly design changes and delays during detailed engineering.
APPROACH:
PRI implemented a multi-phase investigation and testing program tailored to the site:
- Solar array and substation investigations: Standard array foundation investigations were paired with deeper, targeted boreholes at proposed substation and major equipment locations to characterize subsurface conditions under higher foundation loads.
- Helical pile probing and testing: A series of helical probes were distributed across the site to develop depth-versus-torque profiles, flag areas of installation difficulty, and inform constructability. Representative helical test piles were then installed and subjected to axial and lateral load testing to validate design assumptions — with axial capacity typically governing in this northern climate due to frost uplift.
- Driven pile evaluation: Using the helical probing and geotechnical data, driven pile test locations were selected to compare the performance of W-section and HSS round foundations. Installation data (including drive time by depth) were correlated with subsurface findings, and all test piles underwent axial and lateral load testing to confirm capacity and constructability.
OUTCOME:
The combined probing, installation monitoring, and load testing programs allowed PRI to validate foundation performance, confirm constructability across the site, and optimize the final foundation configuration ahead of full-scale production. This proactive, data-driven approach reduced construction risk, improved cost certainty, and gave the project team confidence that the selected foundation systems would meet both structural and constructability requirements — de-risking the project from a geotechnical perspective before installation began at scale.