A little while back, we released our Element ICF pool installation guide — a handy resource for ICF pool builders, who are seeing more and more business lately. And today, we’re happy to announce the release of a companion guide — this time, meant to alleviate the hard work of ICF pool designers everywhere.
In the post below, we will walk you through our ICF pool design guide, so you know what to expect from this new resource in our toolkit.
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What Is the Element ICF Swimming Pool Design Guide?
If you design swimming pools for a living, you probably already know that pool wall engineering isn’t covered by building codes. That’s exactly the gap that the Element ICF Pool Design Guide is attempting to bridge.
In this design guide you’ll find load tables and diagrams that cover sizes and reinforcement requirements in Element ICF walls and footings. These tables are intended to help with the structural design of Element ICF walls in:
- In-ground swimming pools
- Above-grade swimming pools
- Swimming pools with sloped slabs
- Swimming pools with and without surcharge loads
Please note that this Design Guide is intended for use in the US only; the Canadian version is still under development and will be made available shortly.
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ICF Pool Design Recommendations
Along with reinforcement tables, The Logix Pool Design Guide also provides design parameters for concrete and rebar placement for ICF swimming pools’ walls, footings, and slabs.
For instance, the Guide recommends a minimum compressive strength of 3,000 psi for concrete used in the swimming pool’s slab and footings.
Likewise, the Guide suggests using Grade 60 ksi steel to reinforce the concrete structure of the pool. Vertical reinforcement should, according to the Guide, be placed in the center of the wall, while horizontal reinforcement is generally needed 16 inches on center (#4 rebar), on either side of the vertical bars.
In the Guide’s design parameters, you’ll also find an Equivalent Fluid Density Soil Classification table with descriptions of soil characteristics.
Towards the end of the guide, you’ll find an assortment of section details to suit various design configurations for in-ground and above-grade pools.
Standards Used to Prepare the Design Guide
In the absence of guidance from the building code, our team has used a variety of standards to prepare its Element ICF Pool Design Guide.
For instance, the reinforcement tables in the guide were prepared using the applicable sections of ACI 318 Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete. The standards below were also used:
- IBC 2018 International Building Code
- ASCE 7–16 American Society of Civil Engineers (Minimum Design Loads for Buildings & Other Structures)
- AISC 360–10 American Institute of Steel Construction (Specification for Structural Steel Buildings)
- AISI 2007 American Iron and Steel Institute (Design of Cold-Formed Steel & Structural Members)
Surcharges Table
If you build or design commercial pools with ICF, you’ll be happy to learn that Logix’s Pool Design Guide comes with surcharge tables.
A surcharge is any heavy load, apart from soil pressure, imposed around the pool within a distance that’s equal to the height of the swimming pool’s walls. Surcharge loads may be created by large groups of people and equipment.
While residential pools aren’t likely to have surcharge loads, their commercial counterparts should be designed to withstand these loads, as they’re more likely to host larger groups of people.
Wrapping It Up
We hope that the new guide from Element ICF will help you design efficient ICF swimming pools.
And if you’re building Element ICF swimming pools in Canada, stay tuned — a similar guide is in the works and will be released soon!
