Insulfoam Geofoam

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“Geofoam – A Light Weight Fill Alternative”

•A wholly owned subsidiary of

Carlisle Construction Materials

•Headquarters in Tacoma, WA

•Producer of expanded polystyrene

(EPS) for more than 40 years

•The largest manufacturer of block-

molded expanded polystyrene in

North America

Insulfoam is the only manufacturer of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) with the ability to service national customers

Insulfoam

Family of Products

Agenda

• Manufacturing Process• History of Geofoam• Geofoam applications/projects• Recent Trends• Standards• Specifications• Placement/handling/installation

ProcessRaw Material - Resin

Cutting

Finished Goods

Recycling

Bead Storage

Pre-Expansion

Laminating

Customers

History of Geofoam

• EPS invented circa 1950• 1st use of EPS in a geotechnical application in 1965 was

done in Norway• Late 1960s – Germany - Frost Protection utilization • 1972 – Norway - First Road Embankment project• Early 1970s – The Netherlands - First EPS geofoam

projects • Mid to Late 70’s – Alaska - EPS used during the famed

oil-pipeline construction days • 1985 – Japan - First Abutment back-filling and road

construction on soft ground• 1990 – 14th Green at Coeur d' Alene Resort • 1992 – The word “GeoFoam” was being termed• Late 1990’s – United Kingdom – First Levee - Torne

Levee

Insulfoam Geofoam

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History of Geofoam

• 1997 - Geofoam Research Center was established• 2001 - First Geofoam Bridge Approach in the USA- Buffalo

Road Bridge, Warsaw, NY • 2001 - I-15 project• 2005 - ASTM D6817 released

• 2008 - FHWA New Technology →Functional Technology • 2010 –Geofoam had been used on State DOT projects in

most States• 2011 – 2nd Geofoam Conference in Oslo

FHWA National Deployment Goal

• EPS geofoam is to be routinely used as a lightweight fill alternative for State DOTs on embankment projects where the construction schedule is of concern.

• By October 2011, all States will have evaluated EPS geofoam as a lightweight fill alternative.

5 MAJOR APPLICATIONS

TO CONSIDER GEOFOAM

Lighten the Load

ELIMINATE OR REDUCE LATERAL LOADING ON

RETAINING STRUCTURES

ZERO NET LOADING FOR

SOFT SOIL REMEDIATION

ENGINEERED FOR

SLOPE STABILIZATION

PROTECT AND LIGHTEN THE LOAD ON

BURIED UTILITIES

KEEP IT SIMPLE AND FAST WITH

STRUCTURAL VOID FILL CONCRETE APPLICATIONS

RETAINING STRUCTURES

Eliminate or Reduce Lateral Loads for

• InsulFoam GF replaces thesliding soil wedge

• Native soils are self supportingwhen excavated back to the angle of repose

• InsulFoam GF is self supporting

• End result: ZERO lateral loadon the retaining structure

University Student Housing

Morgantown, WV

Insulfoam Geofoam

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I80 & 148th Street

Waverly, NE

Inn at the Mountain Gods

Mercalero, NM

InsulFoam® GF Benefits

• Significantly reduces structural steel, concrete and forming costs/time• Decreases or Eliminates the need for geo-grids or mechanical tie-backs • Allows walls to be designed taller and in more narrow rights-of-way

• Eliminates the need for secondary compaction which speeds construction

for Retaining Structures

Bayamun, Puerto Rico

SOFT SOIL REMEDIATION

Net Zero Load Designs for

• Soft soils only settle whenmore weight is added on top

• Calculate the weight of theGeofoam and all other loads

• Excavate an equivalent weightof native soil

• End Result: Net ZERO loadingI-680 Interchange – Martinez, CA

I-80/94 & I-65 - Gary, IN

I-405 Totem Lake Freeway

Kirkland, WA

Insulfoam Geofoam

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Louis Armstrong Int’l Airport

New Orleans, LA

• Increases -‒ Speed of installation

‒ Productivity

• Decreases -‒ Rights-of-way concerns

‒ Traffic closures

‒ Heavy equipment costs

‒ Soil removal costs

‒ Borrow-fill placement

•Eliminates -‒ Surcharging time/cost

‒ Soil Settlement

‒ Secondary compaction

InsulFoam® GF Benefitsfor Soft Soil Remediation

Port of Longview, WA

SLOPE STABILIZATION

Lighten the driving block for

• Heavy Soils + Gravity + H2O= High Landslide Potential

• Geofoam is up to 100 timeslighter than soil

• Using Geofoam reducesthe weight and the risk

US 101 - Willits, CA

US 50 Slide Remediation

Montrose, CO

• Increases -‒ Speed of installation

‒ Productivity

‒ Space for additional

traffic lanes

• Decreases -‒ Traffic closures

‒ Heavy equipment costs

‒ Borrow-fill placement

‒ Concerns about future

landslide/erosion issues

‒ Environmental impact on

sensitive hillside jobsites

‒ Long-term maintenance

and slope failure costs

InsulFoam® GF Benefitsfor Slope Stabilization

Hillside Restoration in Japan

Insulfoam Geofoam

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BURIED UTILITY PROTECTION

Protect and lighten the load on top of

• Reduces dead and lateral loads on underground pipes, culverts and tunnels

• Protects utility during seismic activity by reducing axial strain

•Provides high thermal insulation values that protect against severe temperature fluctuations

Woodrow Wilson Bridge

Alexandria, VA

Route 1 & 9 Interchange

Jersey City, NJ

• Allows construction directly on top of buried utilities

• Eliminates right-of-way or eminent domain claims to move the utility

• Allows designers to specify less expensive structural utilities such as box culverts and pipes

• Reduced dead loads prolongs the life of structure

InsulFoam® GF Benefitsfor Buried Utility Protection

STRUCTURAL VOID FILL

CONCRETE APPLICATIONS

Keep it Simple and Fast with

• Eliminates separate concrete pours for vertical wall sections

• Reduces overall amount of concrete or other heavy fills

•Reduces dead loads on underlying structures

•Any shape or slope can be easily fabricated on site

Union Pacific Depot

Salt Lake City, UT

Insulfoam Geofoam

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High School Theater

Sun Prairie, WI

Green Roof Application

Rooftop Pool Decks

Water Treatment Plants

Box Beam Bridge Girders

Bridge Column Voids

Insulfoam Geofoam

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Bridge Column Custom Forms

InsulFoam® GF Benefitsas a Structural Lightweight Void Fill

• Eliminates the need to pour the walls separately from the topping slab

• Decreases labor costs versus heavy soil backfill

• Decreases forming time and material costs

• Easily supports the weight of concrete slabs

Community College, Scottsdale, AZ

Full Scale Test

Løkkeberg Bridge, Norway

• Built on two EPS embankments

• Monitoring deformation, creep and stress distribution

Full Scale Test

Løkkeberg Bridge, Norway

• An impressive ‘creep’ deformation of less than 1.3%

• Most of which occurred during construction

• Bridge is still in operation today

• No signs of cracks or uneven deformation have been observed

Excavated after 24 years

@ Flom Bridge, Norway

• Excavation of a 24 year old EPS block from the first EPS Embankment at Flom Bridge (1972)

• No signs of material deterioration after 24 years

• Above groundwater level <1% water content by volume

• Below groundwater level <4% water content by volume

• Water pickup over the years in the ground will not affect material strength

• If a tendency towards change is to be noted –it would suggest a slight increase in material strength.

Recent Trends

UTA TRAX, Salt lake City, UT

Insulfoam Geofoam

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Load Distribution Slab within Assemblage

Shotcrete over Geofoam

Topaz Bridge, McCammon, ID

Bridge Abutments

Grimsøyveien, Norway

Sloped vs. Vertical

Rte 1 & 9, Jersey City, NJ

Port of Longview, Longview, WA

Levee Applications

North Creek Levee – Bothell, WA

Utilization of Geomembrane

“There is no FHWA “position” on the topic of using geo-membranes with load distribution slabs. I will say that I

recommend that states go with one or the other. “Silas Nichols, P.E., FHWA Senior Bridge Engineer

Insulfoam Geofoam

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Case StudyState Rt. 19, Noble County, IN

• Reconstructed 3,100 ft of highway, very soft soil extending 38 ft in some areas, continuous maintenance from horizontal movement, causing sheer cracking

ASTM D6817

Understanding ASTM D6817 (different than ASTM C578)

ASTM

D6817 vs. C578

Density lb/ft³, min.

Compressive Resistance, min. psi @

10% deformation

Flexural Strength, Min.,

psi

ASTM D6817 EPS 15 .90 10.2 25

ASTM C578 Type I .90 10.0 25

ASTM D6817 EPS 19 1.15 16.0 30

ASTM C578 Type VIII 1.15 13.0 30

ASTM D6817 EPS 22 1.35 19.6 40

ASTM C578 Type II 1.35 15.0 35

ASTM D6817 EPS 29 1.80 29.0 50

ASTM C578 Type IX 1.80 25.0 50

Geotechnical Insulation

InsulFoam GF Specifications

QC & Compression Testing

ASTM D1621 on 2”cube

Insulfoam: Service Sets Us Apart

• Specification assistance• 3rd party certification testing• Staffed Technical Center• Two Geofoam Specialists• Dedicated CAD drafters• Layout & Installation shop

drawings• Jobsite visits/startups• Hot wire cutting tools• Presentations/Box Lunches• Value engineering support

Insulfoam Geofoam

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Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

1 truckload of Geofoam = 12 dump trucks of fill

Handling

Geofoam Installation

InsulGrip / INSTA-STIK™

• 4” x 4” 20 ga. galvanized steel plate• 60 lbs designed lateral load per plate• Minimum of two plates per 4' x 8' area

• moisture cured polyurethane adhesive

• works well in a wide range of temperatures

Hot Wire Cutters