Benefits Of Geofoam

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Manufacturing Process Geofoam is any material or product that has a closed-cell structure that was created either in a fixed plant or in situ by an expansion process. Although most geofoam materials are polymeric (plastic) in composition, other materials such as Portland cement concrete (PCC) or glass have been and are used. Most geofoam materials are polymeric with polystyrene foams being the most common. The two types of polystyrene foam are expanded polystyrene (EPS) and extruded polystyrene (XPS). They are collectively referred to by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D 578 ( ) as "rigid cellular polystyrene" (RCPS). EPS is a polymeric foam that is inherently white in colour and can be found in some familiar consumer products such as coffee cups and cushion packaging. EPS and XPS …show more content…

Benefits of utilizing an EPS-block geofoam embankment include: (1) ease and speed of construction, (2) placement in adverse weather conditions, (3) possible elimination of the need for preloading, surcharging, and staged construction, (4) decreased maintenance costs as a result of less settlement from the low density of EPS-block geofoam, (6) reduction of lateral stress on bridge approach abutments, (7) use over existing utilities which reduces or eliminates utility relocation, (8) excellent durability, and (9) ability to be recycled. In a soil removal and replacement situation without the use of surcharging, the use of EPS-block geofoam may result in cost savings compared to other types of lightweight fill materials and conventional fill materials because the density of geofoam is 1/10th to 1/30th of the density of foamed concrete, 1/55th to 1/145th of the in-place density of boiler slag, and 1/100th of the density of conventional granular fill

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