DENVER, CO--(Marketwire - Apr 3, 2012) - ACH Foam Technologies' EPS Geofoam, distributed nationwide, offers multiple advantages for retaining wall applications. Geofoam helps maintain tight construction schedules due to its light weight and enormous compressive strength. It can minimize lateral earth pressure on retaining walls, reconstruct a washed-out roadway, or mediate a faltering bridge abutment.
Geofoam weighs in at a whopping 1 to 2 pounds per cubic foot (16 to 32 kg per cubic meter), which is 50 times lighter than soil and 20 to 30 times lighter than other alternative lightweight fill materials. This extreme difference in unit weight, compared to other materials, makes EPS Geofoam an attractive fill material to significantly accelerate construction schedules.
"Using geofoam to backfill against a vertical structure completely eliminates lateral pressure on that structure, whether it is a bridge abutment, retaining wall, or foundation wall", explains Terry Meier, Geofoam Specialist for ACH Foam Technologies. "Soil creates approx. 40lbs per cubic foot of lateral pressure. If the structure is below ground level, this lateral pressure increases by a factor of 10. This lateral pressure is eliminated with the use of geofoam."
EPS Geofoam can be used as an embankment fill to reduce loads on underlying soils, to build highways quickly without staged construction, or to act as a buffer between movements in subsoils and buried utilities or foundation walls. It is also unaffected by adverse weather conditions.
"The compressive strength of the geofoam amazed me when, with only 30 inches of cover, we were able to use a 115,000 pound excavator on top of the foam and open the bridge to traffic in just three weeks," said Glen Haelka. Haelka Construction placed 353,920 board feet of ACH Foam Technologies' Foam Control ® Geofoam as foundation stabilization fill for the remediation of the Biscuit Creek Bridge in Rudyard, Michigan without weather delays.
Because geofoam weighs only 16 to 32 kilograms per cubic meter (1 to 2 lbs. per cubic foot), large earthmoving equipment is not required for construction. Blocks can easily be trimmed to size on site and placed by hand.
For more information visit: http://www.achfoam.com/Geofoam.aspx.
