Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Geofoam has a long history of use in the building and construction industry. Going back as far as the 1960s, EPS Geofoam has been used as a geostructural material that has aided in the roadway, bridge, airport runway, and stadium seating building jobs – just to name a few.
EPS Geofoam is ideal for these types of projects, as it is highly versatile, durable, and lightweight. It is approximately 1% the weight of soil and less than 10% the weight of other lightweight fill alternatives, meaning it reduces loads imposed on adjacent and underlying soils and structures and costs less to ship and handle. It is the perfect tool to help solve engineering challenges, speed up construction schedules, and lower overall cost of construction.
Benefits
- Extremely lightweight and durable
- Lowers construction costs
- Decrease construction time
- Easy to handle and transport
- Does not require special equipment
- Unaffected by occurring weather conditions
- Easily cut and shaped
- Available in many material types
EPS Geofoam Applications
Details on Traditional below-grade EPS Geofoam’s applications and use in construction in the following areas is contained in the download, “EPS Geofoam Applications & Technical Data.pdf”.
- Road Widening
- Airport Runway and Taxiway Construction
- Bridge Abutment projects
- Bridge Underfill
- Compensating Foundations
- Landscaping and Green Vegetative Roofs
- Levee Construction and Support
- Lightweight Structure Foundation Construction
- Rail Embankment Projects
- Retained and Buried Walls
- Slope Stabilization
- Stadium and Theater Seating
- Road Construction Over Poor Soils
- Culverts, Pipelines, and Buried Utilities
- EPS Geofoam Special Applications
In addition to traditional below-grade applications, Geofoam also is now used in a few above-grade (in fact very above-grade) applications as well. One example is the use of EPS Geofoam as lightweight structural fill for roof-top swimming pools for hotels. In many of these cases, only limited modifications to existing building structure is possible so designers turn to Geofoam to provide the structural strength to support pool areas while adding only a small fraction of the weight as concrete options would. Another above grade application that is becoming more popular in recent years is using Geofoam to help construct green, roof-top decks, supporting grass or even gardens.
