Loxton Retaining Wall & BESS Foundations

Client	Mass Energy
Location	Loxton, SA
Solution	The Alterna Wall and The Helical Pile
Scale	70 piles
Timeframe	2023, 10 days on site

The Stake

FTA was originally brought in to solve a retaining wall problem, not a foundation problem. Incredibly soft sand on site meant the standard concrete approach was at genuine risk of not being deliverable at all.

The Challenge

The soft sand made it near-impossible for bored pier holes to hold form long enough to pour a concrete footing; the holes kept collapsing before the concrete could go in. The project’s design engineer, who already knew FTA’s Engineering Lead, Travis Yap, reached out directly once it became clear the original approach wasn’t going to work. It was the largest retaining wall solution of its kind Travis had designed to that point, a genuine test of the concept at scale.

The Approach

Travis designed a concrete-free retaining wall system engineered around the site’s lateral load requirements, delivering both a top wall and a bottom wall, both straight and fully compliant. Partway through, FTA’s understanding of the site flagged that the same screw pile approach could also carry the foundations for the project’s batteries and transformer, eliminating the need for concrete across most of the remaining scope as well, not just the retaining wall. A four-person crew installed 70 screw piles across 10 days on site, with no deadline pressure beyond getting it right.

Elevated view of a row of white electrical enclosures and battery equipment installed on a gravel pad cut into a hillside, bordered by a concrete panel retaining wall with safety bunting and a mini excavator nearby.

The Outcome

The client was surprised and impressed that FTA could solve the problem at all and by the quality of the finished walls. Extending the screw pile solution to the battery and transformer foundations delivered both cost and time savings across the project.