1. What is ConFoam™?
ConFoam™ is a cellular concrete made from a mixture of cement, water, and preformed foam. It’s a highly flowable lightweight material most often used as a backfill or subbase replacement. Simply put, ConFoam™ is “liquid backfill.”
2. How does ConFoam™ differ from traditional concrete?
Unlike traditional concrete, ConFoam™ is highly flowable and nearly self-leveling, which requires little placement labor. Installation takes less time and uses less labor, material, transportation, and testing.
3. What are the benefits of ConFoam™?
ConFoam™has a lightweight composition that applies minimal pressure to existing structures but can achieve 100% consolidation without mechanical vibration. This reduces or eliminates the need to brace walls during backfill.
Its fluid nature makes it easy to pump and fill hard to reach voids, including underneath slabs and around pipes. Installation is easy enough that employees don’t need to stand in the excavation area during placement. It also doesn’t need compaction testing.
There is virtually no settlement with ConFoam™, but unlike traditional concrete and controlled low-strength material (CLSM) mixes, it is also easily excavatable should the
need arise.
4. What can ConFoam™ be used for?
ConFoam™ can be customized for many applications, not limited to backfilling voids, filling abandoned pipes and tanks, “foam filling” trenches to reduce weight on pipes after settlement, and creating sub-bases for highways.
5. What is the density of ConFoamTM?
The density of ConFoam™ varies based on its application, because it can be produced at multiple densities. Low-density ConFoam™ ranges from 20-50 pcf, while high-density ConFoam™ is 70 pcf and above.
6. Is ConFoam™ permeable?
ConFoam™ can be customized as water permeable with a pass-through rate comparable to sand. This particular customization is ConFoam™ Drain 27, which uses a porous foam to allow water to freely travel though.
ConFoam™ Drain 27 weighs 27 pcf when it’s dry and can almost hold its own weight in water. As a sub-base, this prevents water from popping up the surface layer.
7. How is ConFoam™ installed?
Installation is simple and quick. ConFoam™ equipment is easily mobilized to pump across long distances and elevations not accessible by traditional mobile equipment and field personnel.
Pumping can begin in less than an hour upon arrival at the site. 1,000 cubic yards can be pumped a day, and all compaction takes place without needing personnel in the excavation site.
8. Is ConFoam™ easy to excavate?
ConFoam™’s lightweight composition makes it easy to remove with a shovel, saw, or chainsaw.
9. Is ConFoam™ environmentally friendly?
The carbon footprint of ConFoam™ is far smaller than that of traditional concrete. It’s produced as it’s pumped, making it impossible to have waste. Less equipment is required than with traditional concrete, so there is less equipment transport and traffic congestion. Additionally, ConFoam™ doesn’t settle overtime, so it doesn’t need to be reworked.