Heavy clay swells hard and deep. The torque reading is what confirms a pier has passed it.
Spalding County clay is heavy, expansive, and holds water against a foundation for a week at a time. Anything bearing in the upper few feet of it is riding a seasonal cycle that eventually stops returning to where it started.
Helical piers put the bearing below that zone. The pier advances until the torque required tells us it has reached material that carries the load regardless of the season, and that reading is recorded at each location.
Depth here can be significant, since the active layer in heavy clay runs deeper than it does in sandy soil. Advancing to a torque value is what makes sure each pier is genuinely below it.
The scope is fixed before we start on a Griffin home, so nothing gets added once the crew is underneath.

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