It is lightweight, but don’t call it a “lightweight”! The undeniable strength and versatility of Geofoam is being specified for a wide range of projects. The University of Utah reports that Geofoam is being used to protect Utah’s natural gas pipelines from rupturing during earthquakes. Steven Bartlett, associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Utah, has partnered with natural gas company Questar to use large expanded polystyrene Geofoam blocks as a compressible, protective cover for natural gas pipelines buried underground.
Bartlett’s and his students’ fault rupture simulations have revealed that a Geofoam-protected pipeline can “withstand up to four times more vertical force than traditional soil cover”, reducing “earthquake pressures by 30 to 50%”. Lightweight, low-impact, low-cost, time-efficient, unbeatable durability—all these positive attributes once again prove Geofoam and Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) to be the optimum choice for innumerable civil engineering and construction projects. As Steven Bartlett proclaims, “When there are sensitive utilities involved, seismic stresses or time is a factor, this technology wins hands down.”
Read the full story: Geofoam Protects Pipelines.
View our Geofoam spec sheet
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