Soldier pile and lagging shoring in Los Angeles
Ford Foundation Drilling LLC builds soldier pile and lagging walls for basements, hillside cuts, property-line excavations and slope repairs in the Los Angeles area.
We can take the wall from engineering through the last lagging board, or build from plans you already have.
How a soldier pile wall goes in
- We drill a row of shafts along the edge of the excavation.
- A steel beam goes into each shaft and the toe is set in concrete.
- The excavation goes down in lifts. Timber lagging is placed between the beams at each lift to hold the soil.
- Taller walls get tiebacks or rakers as the cut deepens.
Design-build or build-only
On design-build shoring we bring the engineer. You get engineered shoring plans and calculations for permit, and one company answers for the design and the installation. If your engineer has already drawn the wall, we price and build from those plans.
What we install
- Temporary shoring for basement and foundation excavations
- Permanent soldier pile retaining walls, finished with shotcrete or concrete
- Cantilevered walls, and walls braced with tiebacks or rakers
- Soil nails and slope stabilization
- Shoring on hillside and limited-access lots, using compact rigs
When shoring is required
Cal/OSHA requires a protective system for excavations 5 feet or deeper that workers enter, and an engineered design once the excavation is deeper than 20 feet. Building departments typically ask for engineered shoring plans sooner than that when the cut is near a property line, a street or an existing building.
Where we work
We work across Southern California, with recent projects in Los Angeles, Pacific Palisades, Altadena and Malibu.
Get a price
Send plans and the soils report to info@fordfoundationdrilling.com or call 1-626-804-8517, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.
Common questions
What is a soldier pile and lagging wall?
It is a shoring wall made of steel beams set in drilled shafts, with timber boards (lagging) spanning between the beams to hold back the soil as the excavation goes down.
Is soldier pile shoring temporary or permanent?
Either. Temporary walls hold the cut until the basement or foundation wall is built. Permanent walls stay in place as the retaining wall and get a concrete or shotcrete face.
Do you design the shoring or only build it?
Both. We offer design-build shoring with engineered plans, and we also build from plans prepared by your engineer.
How long does shoring take?
It depends on pile count, depth and ground conditions. Send the plans and soils report and we will give you a schedule with the price.
Related services
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Let's talk. Operators standing by Monday–Friday, 8am–5pm PST.