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Geotechnical
lightweight
construction
E.P.S for civil
and roading
construction
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PRODUCT INFORMATION
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PRODUCT INFORMATION
GUIDE SHEET FOCUS ON BUI
Introduction
Geotechnical engineers and contractors
in New Zealand are all too familiar with
lead to substantially reduced costs Embankment Profile
for structures, foundations or ground
the problems of road construction in A lightweight fill material that creates
improvements and on-going maintenance
poor load-bearing areas. Traditional considerable programme efficiencies
costs.
construction methods using conventional and is both cost competitive and easy to
POLYROCK® also provides solutions to install Fig.1-3
fill materials can be both impractical and
reduce loads on underground services,
uneconomic.
reduce lateral pressure and differential
POLYROCK® from Bondor New Zealand
settlement at bridge abutments and aid in
Limited is the perfect choice of material
the reconstruction of embankments.
for this type of situation. Consisting of
moulded Expanded Polystyrene (EPS),
not only does POLYROCK® offer a
unique combination of very low density,
significant load-bearing capacity and
long-term stability, but it is also extremely
fast and simple to install. EMBANKMENT PROFILES
These features make POLYROCK ®
Overview &
Applications
POLYROCK® consists of expanded
polystyrene beads moulded into
solid blocks.
Weighing in at approx. 1/100th the weight
of conventional fill, POLYROCK® blocks
virtually eliminate the lateral and vertical
Fig.3 RETAINING COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL
movement and complete bearing failure
often associated with construction
on poor load-bearing soil. There is
also minimal settlement or long term
compression of soil layers. This can
Geotechnical Fill
Geotechnical fill over poor load-bearing
subsoil for roading or embankments.
Backfill
Backfill behind earth retaining
structures.
Fig.6 LIGHTWEIGHT FILL
Structural Fill
Structural fill beneath buildings.
Hillside Roading
Embankments
Widening existing embankments.
Repairing subsidence
Repairing damage caused by
subsidence and settlement.
Bridging Sensitive
Underground Structures
Fig.7 HILLSIDE ROADING
Replacement of Poor
Soils
Reduction of Differential
Settlement
Problem Sites
Sites with difficult or restricted access.
Compression
POLYROCK® is a thermoplastic material
that under compressive load acts in a
viscoelastic manner. This means that
above certain levels of compressive
load, POLYROCK® won’t recover all of
its original thickness when the load
Fig.8
is removed. Typically, POLYROCK®’s COMPRESSION STRESS vs STRAIN
compressive stress at 10% compressive
strain is the quoted performance Density
250
characteristic, even though this is well 30kg/m3
Density
POLYROCK®’s most important
characteristic is its very low density. Fig.9
Typical densities range from 15kg/m3 to COMPRESSION STRESS vs INITIAL STRAIN
28kg/m3 although this can be customised
Density 20kg/m3
for specific applications. Selecting the 90
30kg/m3
correct POLYROCK® density is primarily
80
based on the compressive loads that will
Compressive stress (kPa)
60
15kg/m3
50
40
30
20
10
0.5 1 1.5 2
Initial compressive strain (%)
Water Absorption
Despite its low density, POLYROCK®
will absorb only a limited amount of
water. Immersion for a year results in
approximately 5% by volume water
absorption. Water may also be drawn
into POLYROCK® by capillary action,
but only in very limited quantities. Such
levels have no significant effect on
POLYROCK®’s mechanical properties or
performance. Where POLYROCK® is likely
to be permanently immersed, a design
density of 100kg/m3 should be used
by the designer. Conversely, to ensure Fig.10
buoyancy, a design density of no more COMPRESSION STRESS vs TOTAL STRAIN
than 20kg/m3 should be used.
90 Density
30kg/m3
Dimensional Stability 80
Compressive stress (kPa)
40
15kg/m3
30
20
10
0.5 1 1.5 2
Total compressive strain (%)
Stress / kPa
- instant strain 10% 60 - 110 110 - 160 200 - 250 DIN 53421
- final strain 1.5 - 2.0% 25 - 30 40 - 50 70 - 90
Flexural strength / kPa 60 - 300 150 - 390 330 - 570 DIN 53423
Shear strength / kPa 80 - 130 120 - 170 210 - 260 DIN 53427
Biological Properties
POLYROCK® won’t damage the
environment, impact on the water table
or affect the chemistry of ground water. Fig.11
Nor will it offer a breeding ground for Chemical Resistance of POLYROCK®
micro organisms.
Contacting Substance Effect
POLYROCK® does not decay, rot or turn
mouldy. Bacteria in the soil do not attack Saline solutions, seawater
the foam. Soap, detergent solutions
Diesel fuel
Alcohols
e.g. Methanol, ethanol
Silicone oils
New Zealand and site work was carried out by Boss POLYROCK® had all the right qualities
POLYROCK® Projects Construction Ltd of Albany. for this job: good strength to weight ratio,
Completed elasticity, and prefinished nature allowing
ALPURT SH1 Project quick and easy installation.
Botany Downs Town Centre The combined effort of W Stevenson
POLYROCK was introduced to the
® & Son Ltd, Connell Wagner and Bondor
New Zealand market when it was used New Zealand Limited resulted in a new
for a large project at the Botany Downs benchmark for roading construction in
Town Centre – in this case POLYROCK® the future.The ALPURT (Albany to Puhoi
was used primarily in the protection of Realignment) SH1 A1 Section near
existing underground services (storm Oteha Valley Road has had its share of
water pipe). On this project Tonkin & difficulties - such as time constraints in
Taylor Ltd were the geotechnical design filling a 30m high earth embankment.
engineers, with the main contractor Rapid earth filling could have caused
being Mainzeal Construction. embankment failure. Bondor New
Arthur’s Pass SH73 Rock Shelter
Zealand Limited’s POLYROCK® was
chosen as the fast and simple solution to Harvey Norman Building,
increase the safe filling speed and to form Whangarei
the pavement subgrade.
2400m3 of Polyrock® used to support
the foundation for the concrete slab.
Polyrock® was used to avoid problems
associated with Onerahi Chaos soil
type, and differential settlement. The
lightweight nature, cost effectiveness
and strength of Polyrock® provided
Botany Downs Town Centre a unique lightweight geotechnical fill
solution.
Glamorgan Drive, Torbay
In order to access a new subdivision
at 276-280 Glamorgan Drive, Torbay, on Alpurt SH1 Project
the North Shore of Auckland, a cul-de-sac
right-of-way would need to be constructed Arthur’s Pass SH73 Rock
over a poor load bearing soil. In fact the Shelter
underlying soil was so unstable, that The road widening project between
additional load would certainly result Candy’s Bend and Starvation Point in the
in failure. To alleviate these additional Arthur’s Pass region of the Southern Alps
loads, in excess of 350 cubic metres of was a challenging engineering project.
POLYROCK® were laid as the foundation Fulton Hogan Civil were given the task
Harvey Norman Building, Whangarei
for the right-of-way, offering both a of constructing the rock shelter,
suitable light weight in the vertical using concrete pillars, concrete slabs
plane, as well as offering almost no and Bondor New Zealand Limited
lateral loading to the retaining structure POLYROCK®. The POLYROCK® fill is
constructed to contain this new roadway. sandwiched between the ‘ceiling’ slab
This project was designed by McGuigan and the ‘roof’ slab of the shelter. Its job
Syme Chilcott Ltd consulting engineers is to absorb the impact of rockfalls.
For many applications of POLYROCK® further information is available from Bondor New Zealand Limited.