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Putnam County superintendent, contractors describe helical-pile work and timeline for Crescent City rebuild
Summary
District and contractor officials said the state-funded Crescent City Junior Senior High rebuild is using helical piles to stabilize wetlands-prone soils, is about 60% complete and is expected to be finished in the 2027–28 school year; contractors described the technical and safety challenges of building on an occupied campus.
Putnam County School District Superintendent said contractors are using helical piles to stabilize the foundation of the Crescent City Junior Senior High School rebuild, which contractors put at about 60% complete and said is expected to be finished in the 2027–28 school year.
The project is a special facilities build funded by the state legislature, the superintendent said. Contractors described extensive geotechnical work needed because the campus sits in a low, wet area with a high water table, and they said that required nonstandard foundations and detailed sequencing to protect students and staff while work continues on an occupied campus.
"They're the little threaded, helical that goes into the ground," said Bryce Hartley, senior project manager with Parish McCall Constructors, explaining how helical piles are installed to engineered torque and used to create a deep-support system. Hartley said crews install piles roughly every 10 feet where engineers require them and then build grade beams and slabs on that mass concrete support.
Hartley said the work is deliberate and often iterative: "When we started, it was 1,295 piles. I wanna say we've added several 100 more," and if a pile fails to meet torque or capacity the engineer prescribes a fix, he said.
JD Thompson, the district's executive director of construction management, described the scheduling and safety constraints of building around active classrooms. "You're trying to build a plane while we're flying it," he said, noting the district has to accommodate events such as graduation and testing while major construction zones remain on site.
Contractor Bill Pearson, president of Parish McCall Constructors, said the company has worked with the district on more than two dozen projects over 25 years and emphasized coordination with design partners and strong on-site staff as key to keeping the occupied-phase project moving.
The district recommended residents contact JD Thompson for project questions and listed the contractor website (www.parish-mccall.com) for information on timelines. The superintendent and contractors gave an estimated completion window of the 2027–28 school year for Crescent City.
