By: Chris Casey, Sales Representative - Architectural Products
There’s a reason for the expression “dirt cheap,” and that’s because dirt IS cheap. Yes, in most cases, EPS Geofoam will be more expensive than traditional fill materials, but that is only for the raw material cost. In many cases, when taking into account the cost of labor and time, EPS Geofoam can provide a significant economic advantage over regular fill.
The primary reason that Geofoam is used to begin with is due to it’s light weight; taking up space, without adding stress to the underlying soil or structure. Geofoam weighs around 1% of regular dirt fill, and this can help solve many engineering challenges. An added bonus is that this same benefit can also help reduce labor cost. Crews are able to easily place Geofoam by hand, eliminating the need to use heavy equipment. This helps speed the construction process, and potentially reduces or eliminates the need to rent heavy equipment, or burn excessive fuel.
Another benefit of using Geofoam instead of soil is that Geofoam does not require as much time to surcharge as dirt does. According to Utah Transportation Authority spokesperson Carrie Bohnsack-Ware, UTA saved significant time and money by using EPS Geofoam because regular dirt would need to settle for up to three years!
A final benefit of the low weight is that Geofoam can be much less expensive to transport than regular fill. A truckload of Geofoam can contain between 110-120 cubic yards, which equates to 11-12 dump truck loads of dirt.
EPS Geofoam is catching on all around the country (Literally while writing this post, I received a request to quote over 1000 cu yds!). As more people realize the embedded cost savings of Geofoam in terms of time and labor, engineers, architects, contractors, and owners will know that, when budgeting their project, it pays to look beyond the dirt.
