Building from the Ground Up at Hale Crossing: How Rammed Aggregate Piers Created a Strong Foundation for Success

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Every successful project starts with a strong foundation. At Hale Crossing in Newport, New Hampshire, EGCon faced a common but critical construction challenge: weak and unsuitable site soils. Rather than taking the costly and disruptive route of excavating and replacing those materials, the team used an innovative ground improvement solution that allowed the project to move forward efficiently and responsibly—Rammed Aggregate Piers (RAPs).

Rammed Aggregate Piers are designed to strengthen soft, compressible, or otherwise unsuitable soils beneath a structure. They work by improving the ground in place, transforming poor subsurface conditions into a stable platform capable of supporting significant building loads. At Hale Crossing, this approach made it possible to leave the existing unsuitable soils and urban fill in place while still meeting the bearing requirements needed for construction.

So how do RAPs work?

The process begins by driving a steel mandrel into the ground to the required depth. This creates a cavity within the weak soils. Once the target depth is reached, crushed stone or aggregate is placed into that cavity in controlled lifts. A specialized hydraulic hammer then rams the aggregate repeatedly, compacting it densely and forcing it laterally into the surrounding soils. This lateral displacement is what makes the system so effective. It not only forms a stiff, column-like pier, but also densifies and strengthens the surrounding ground. The result is a reinforced composite soil system made up of both the compacted aggregate pier and the improved native soils around it.

In simple terms, RAPs do not just “fill a hole.” They actively improve the performance of the earth around them. By increasing stiffness and load-bearing capacity below the structure, they reduce settlement and create a much more reliable foundation system. That makes them especially valuable on sites where poor soils would otherwise require extensive excavation, import of structural fill, or more expensive deep foundation systems.

At Hale Crossing, the benefits of this approach were immediate and significant. By avoiding the removal and off-site disposal of unsuitable soils, the project reduced hauling costs and minimized the number of trucks moving in and out of the site. That meant less disruption to the surrounding area, improved site safety, and a smaller environmental footprint. Keeping the work more contained also reduced overall site disturbance and helped accelerate the construction schedule.

Just as important, RAPs offered a smart financial advantage. Excavating unsuitable soils can introduce major costs tied to labor, trucking, disposal fees, replacement materials, and schedule delays. Ground improvement with RAPs allowed EGCon to work with the site’s existing conditions instead of against them, delivering a solution that was not only structurally effective, but also cost-efficient.

This is a great example of how thoughtful engineering and practical construction methods can create better outcomes for both the project and the community. At Hale Crossing, Rammed Aggregate Piers proved to be the smart, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible solution—turning challenging site conditions into a strong foundation for success.

We look forward to sharing more updates as the project progresses.