The Hydrogen Super Highway elevated rail system stanchion pole basic soil compaction analysis. The HSH rail infrastructure system is unique in the use of helical foundation tubes that are drilled into the soil or bedrock. When soil is too soft, a large cone-shaped foot is sleeved over the stanchion pole to massively increase the load capacity of the soil and enable the installation of the HSH rail system across vast regions where traditional railroads and surface roads would be impractical.

1. HSH Stanchion Briefing
Steel Stanchion: Load bearing support for elevated rail and electrical ground, no concrete is used
Geometry: 36" Diameter, 1" sidewall, 60' in Length
Modifications: Internal and external helical load bearing wings in soil / cutting teeth for stone
Inserts: Triangular tube inserts may be used when above-ground length exceeds 30'
Sleeves: 36" internal diameter tube sleeves may be used to increase the standard side wall thickness
Load Bearing Caisson: Used only when soft soil ductility exceeds minimum requirements
Failure Mode Analysis: Standard available load bearing data exceeds HSH minimum requirements
Soil Cohesion/Consolidation: It is known that over the distance of even one 88' section of HSH rail can
see a radical variance in soil conditions and surface geology in general. The HSH Stanchion with inserts
and caisson provide an immediate solution for nearly every variant of soil. The stanchion alone is ideally
suited for bedrock.
Description: The standard HSH stanchion/piling structure is a thirty six inch outer-diameter hollow steel
tube with one inch sidewall thickness enhanced with helical wing structures for installation in soft soil.
Helical wing structures inside and outside of the lower portion of the stanchion are used when installed
into low cohesion soil and are minimized for installation into solid stone. Installation is accomplished
with harmonic vibratory drilling. Rapid progressive installation of the HSH elevated rail systemis
possible by adapting immediately to changing soil conditions using large surface area load bearing
caisson cones increasing compression loading. The caisson cones are a scalable enhancement to the
already excellent performance of the helical stanchion/piling depending on soil conditions. As needed
the caissons are anything larger than the three foot diameter stanchion. A minimal example is a six foot
diameter caisson that will increase stanchion load capacity by 277% . An eight foot diameter caisson can
increase the stanchion loading capacity, in soft soil, by as much as 492%. As shown in the attached
illustration a nine foot diameter caisson is used which increases stanchion capacity by 623% providing a
load bearing surface area of more than 60 square feet. On soft soil rated at 5,000 lbs/sqft, the nine-foot
diameter caisson could be loaded at 318,214lbs static load.
Stanchion Cost Model: The radical variance in the length of the above ground section of the Stanchion
accounting for ground surface change relative to the optimal level height of the rail we account for each
stanchion to be 60 feet in length. While many stanchions may only be 40 to 50 feet in length some will
be longer than 60. We have established an average cost model for each stanchion pole having an
average height of 33 feet from base to capital allowing for as much as 27 feet of stanchion penetration
into the soil as may be required. In the full cost model inclusive of a completed system, steel
constitutes approximately 23% . The Stanchions alone constitute about 2.3% of the overall costs.
Illustration and Chart on Second Page