I have used "Geofoam" in my past projects.
Geofoam has been used for large Highway & Transportation projects as well and I have found it reliable.
The engineering properties of the product are in the specification literature provided by the manufacture. You need to choose a specific type in order to meet your specific project requirement.
The advantages are its lightweight (about 3-4 lbs/ft^3), speed of construction and cost saving.
http://www.achfoam.com/EngineeredandGeotechnicalProducts-Geofoam.aspx
I hope this would help.
Regards
Casey (Khashayar) Hemmatyar, SE
Private email < khemmatyar@hotmail.com>
From: Jerry Coombs [mailto: JCoombs@carollo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 12:46 PM
To: seaint@seaint.org
Subject: RE: Swimming pool concrete fill
Fill it with dirt, and place an aluminum or fiberglass pre-fab pool in the hole. Phenomenally fewer problems... and likely cheaper in the long run.
jdc
>>> "Richard L. Hess" <RLHess@HessEng.com> 9/19/2007 1:58 PM >>>
Jim,
Why fill it with concrete? I think I would fill it with gravel and pour a reinforced slab on top. They should also cut some openings in the old one (above the water table) to permit drainage.
If you pour 4 feet of concrete it will take a long time to cure and will crack sometime in the future. You do not want the surface slab to be a part of that mass.
If, for any reason, you end up needing new walls for the pool, I recommend stainless steel panels that I have worked with on several projects. Unlike many of the gunite jobs that get put in without much of any engineering analysis, these are designed for the specific loads involved.
Richard Hess, S.E.
562 799 9787
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Wilson [mailto:wilsonengineers@yahoo.com ]
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 5:59 AM
To: seaint@seaint.org
Subject: Swimming pool concrete fill
A client intends to fill a 9' deep pool with 5' of concrete to make a wading pool for the elderly. Are there any particular concerns with the mix design to mitigate chemical reactions between pool chemicals and components in the mix? If not, would a simple 3000lb or 4000lb mix suffice? I am thinking that they should place the final 6" in a separate lift to reduce cracking and facilitate finishing.
The client expects to have a cold joint around the perimeter that will need to be sealed. They intend to drain and repaint the pool every year, so maintenance of the joint will not be too great of an issue.
Jim Wilson, PE
Stroudsburg, PA