Geofoam or Similar to Fill Old Conveyor System

[marinaman]

I had a contractor come to me a day or two ago and stated that he had a potential project. He stated that a local manufacturing facility had a 300' long, 4' wide, and 3' deep conveyor pit that they wanted to fill in. Normally, on something like that that is much smaller, I would fill it in #57 clean stone and then pour a slab over that. The GC is asking if we could use geofoam to fill this large long pit and then pour a slab over that.

I do not have any experience with geofoam. I told him that I do not know how compressive the material is nor do I know how durable it is.

For example, what if there are to be fork lifts running over this floor in the future? What if some petroleum product is spilled and seeps into the area where the foam is....will the foam simply deteriorate to nothing?

Can anyone with experience with geofoam give me a feel for whether or not this product is good for my application?

 

[woodman88]

I do not have any experience with using geofoam or similar fill. Here is a link (

http://www.geofoam.com/tech-bulletins.asp)

to their information. The technical bulletin on "Proposed AASHTO Geofoam Specification" may give you some usable information.

Garth Dreger PE - AZ Phoenix area
As EOR's we should take the responsibility to design our structures to support the components we allow in our design per that industry standards.

 

[dik]

Foams might be OK, but many shrink on that thickness... I would think that gravel fill would be far less costly...

Dik

 

[spats]

Geofoam is used primarily as a backfill material to reduce soil pressure on a buried wall. I hav never heard of it being used strictly as fill. However, I'm sure you can get the compressive strength you need, but I'd also be concerned about durability over the long run.

 

[BAretired]

How about a structural slab over the pit? Three feet is not a big span and you need a slab anyway.

BA