The first EPS Geoblock Road

Embankment 1972
EPS2011 - Lillestrm 6-8 June 2011

Svein Alfheim
Kaare Flaate
Geir Refsdal
Nils Rygg
Kjell Aarhus

Norwegian Public Roads Administration

The start ..

The start ..

Frost Action in Soils Project

at
The Norwegian Road Research
Laboratory (NRRL)

Looking for .
a lightweight embankment material was
obviously not a part of the project

EPS for frost protection (?)

A few km of test roads showed that EPS was not a
suitable material for frost protection

EPS

Main reason: water pickup !

5 10 cm

Thickness makes a difference !

moisture pickup:

10 t
t

1/100

The site: Flom bridges (1)

June 1972:
The Road Director of Akerhus County
asks NRRL to come up with a solution for this
heavily trafficked road:

Settlement problems:
- 2 m over the last 30 years
- and escalating!

The site: Flom bridges (2)

The site: Flom bridges (3)

26th June 1972:
NRRL asks a producer of polyurethane if they can
foam in situ with 50 kPa strength

28th June 1972:

The Road Director of Akershus County is asked to
accept a solution with polyurethane foam

Lightweight materials - in 1972

expanded clay aggregate

Lightweight materials - in 1972

bark

Lightweight materials - in 1972

cellular concrete

The very first sketch

The site: Flom bridges (4)

We were not worried about

- moisture pickup
- compressive strength
- long time performance

The site: Flom bridges (5)

August 1972:
Two alternatives are presented
- in situ foamed polyurethane
- EPS geoblocks covered by in situ foamed
polyurethane

8th August 1972:

A technical note states that Flom bridges is an ideal
site for both insitu foamed polyurethane and for
EPS geoblocks

The second sketch

The site: Flom bridges (6)

Patent or not ?
In order to secure the free use of the method,
it was decided to publish the idea of using EPS
geoblocks for road embankments.

Profylactic
patent message
Many possible uses were mentioned:
- plastic foam blocks
- in situ foaming
- bridge backfilling
- transition zones
- road widening
- temporary roads
- rapid road repair

Construction

14th

Sept. 1972

In situ foaming
of polyurethane

Samples for testing

Sloping foundation ??
The contractor ignored the sloping foundation

The Flom Bridges site

Lessons learned (1)

Construction with EPS Geoblocks: easy !

The Flom Bridges site

Lessons learned (2)

100 kPa

established

as a standard requirement for compressive

strength in Norway

The Flom Bridges site

Lessons learned (3)

In situ foaming was
- rain sensitive
- not economical

The Flom bridges site

Lessons learned (4)

A petrol tanker could turn over on an EPS
embankment in our minds

EPS geoblock development

in Norway after 1972

18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

30000

20000
15000
10000
5000

1988

1987

1986

1985

1984

1983

1982

1981

1980

1979

1978

1977

1976

1975

1974

1973

volume (m3)

25000

1972

no. of projects

Development in EPS geoblock projects in Norway 1972 - 1988

no. of projects
volume, m3

Thank you for your

attention