ACH Foam Technologies has delivered EPS Geofoam to the TRAX light rail line in West Valley located near Salt Lake City, Utah.
This is the second major Geofoam project in the USA. Utah Transit Authority (UTA) has built the new rail line that spans 5.1 miles. About 639 truckloads of lightweight fill material were used for the project. The first load has been supplied by ACH Foam in February 2009. The company has supplied a total of 2.1 million cu.ft of Geofoam material and the installation was completed by January 2010.
The I-15 and TRAX construction projects benefited significantly from the Geofoam material, which helped the projects to be completed on time. These two projects are the largest Geofoam development in the U.S.
West Valley TRAX’ Project Manager, Ryan Snow explained that the TRAX rail line project required embankments construction of nearly 40 feet high and the Lake Bonneville deposits presented quite a challenge. These deposits would have taken about three years for settlement, according to geotechnical reports. Since the scheduled time was less, the Geofoam was chosen as the most advantageous fill material for existing soil conditions.
Snow informed that Geofoam installation took one year, but would have taken nearly three years, if traditional fill material has been used.