Foam concrete used for road sub base

Foam concrete is a type of lightweight concrete which is lighter than conventional concrete. It is non-load bearing structural element which has lower strength than conventional concrete. Foam concrete is widely used in construction field and quite popular for some application because of its light weight such as reduction of dead load, non-structural partitions and thermal insulating materials. Because of its low strength, some material is used in order to increase the foam concrete strength.

The foam concrete has been used as the road sub-bases. A recent development has been the use of foam concrete as a road sub-base. It is a highly effective way to improve unstable soil conditions or to replace unsuitable soils. A typical application would be to raise the elevation of the roadway by using foam concrete as a sub base, especially where the soil is unstable. Foam concrete does not require compacting, imposes no lateral forces on adjacent structures, may be applied directly to existing marginal ground such as peat concentrations or poor soils, and weighs 20-25% of the weight of the standard soils. Foam concrete can be applied on the uneven ground as it does not need a completely flat surface, eliminating the requirement for surcharging with soil. Less consolidation is required for subsoil and it also achieves equilibrium with surrounding pressures. Advantages of using foam concrete for road construction are ease and speed of placement, total void-fill, and good energy absorbing qualities. When judged against other more labor/time intensive methods, the ability to produce quantities of up to 400m3 a day means that construction times can be significantly reduced, with consequent cost savings. The flowing, self-compacting properties of foam concrete mean that you can be assured that all voids are completely eliminated.