Helical piles and anchors are presented as displacement deep foundations whose performance depends on correctly specifying helix geometry (diameter, pitch, spacing), shaft type (solid square vs hollow round), and corrosion protection for the design life. The guide stresses matching installation torque to required axial capacity, using torque correlation factors (Kt) appropriate to soil type, and defining minimum embedment depth and number of helices rather than leaving these to contractors. Engineers are urged to state load cases (tension, compression, lateral), serviceability criteria, and testing requirements such as proof and pre-production load tests.

Contractors McIlwain Civil Engineering and SEE Civil Joint Venture have secured the next stage of early works for Queensland’s Mooloolah River Interchange, a key connection for the Sunshine Motorway and Nicklin Way on the Sunshine Coast. The package centres on large-scale earthworks and embankment construction to build up formation levels and stabilise ground conditions ahead of the full interchange upgrade. Geotechnical focus will be on settlement control and embankment performance in a coastal, flood-prone corridor before major bridge and traffic-switching works proceed.

New climate-modelling by the British Geological Survey (BGS) projects that up to 11% of UK homes – several million properties – could face increased clay-related subsidence risk by 2070 as hotter, drier summers drive greater soil shrink–swell. The work uses UKCP18 climate scenarios to map susceptibility on shrink–swell clays, flagging particular exposure in southern and eastern England where high-plasticity London Clay and similar formations are widespread. For geotechnical and asset engineers, this points to tighter foundation design, tree and drainage management, and targeted monitoring of existing low-rise housing stock.