DENVER, CO--(Marketwire - Jan 15, 2013) - ACH Foam Technologies, headquartered in Denver, provided 500 truckloads of EPS geofoam for Salt Lake City's airport TRAX light rail extension -- now the largest continuous section of geofoam fill in the United States. The EPS manufacturer provided Types 29 and 39 Geofoam for the bridge approaches in two sections of equal size for a quantity of over one and a half million cubic feet.
The geofoam was transported to the site from ACH Foam Technologies' plant in Murray, Utah. The light rail extension travels along North Temple to the Salt Lake City International Airport. Completion is scheduled for summer of 2013.
According to Ryan Snow, project manager from General Contractor Stacy Witbeck, it was necessary not only to complete the airport extension under budget and on time; but also that "UTA relied on us to understand the community via public outreach. It was important to make the inconveniences inherent in this type of project -- such as road closures and traffic delays -- as painless as possible. We set out to find every possible means of efficiency -- in cost as well as timeline."
The team determined that geofoam would assist them in keeping on schedule and costs under budget. Geofoam weighs in at 1 to 3 pounds per cubic foot (16 to 48 kg per cubic meter), which is 100 times lighter than soil and 20 to 30 times lighter than other alternative lightweight fill materials. This extreme difference in unit weight, compared to other materials, makes EPS geofoam an attractive fill material to significantly accelerate construction schedules.
"If we had used traditional embankment materials, the project would have lasted an additional 2 years," said Snow. "Because the geofoam doesn't require settlement, we can have the project completed two years ahead of schedule. That's not just time, but money saved. Commuters benefit tremendously, and the result is a happier community." Snow added that the overall airport extension is currently 5 to 10% under budget.
