FEBRUARY 2016 MEETING
Wednesday, February 10, 2016 (1.0 PDH)

TECHNICAL PROGRAM

StormVoid™ Waterproof Void Forms

Speaker: Mike Turner with VoidForms Products, Inc., Englewood CO, Tel. 303-378-5584.

Mr. Turner, owner and former president of VoidForms, FPA member, FPA Structural Committee member, and co-author of FPA-SC-11-1, “Specification and Application of Void Spaces Below Concrete Foundations” entered the field of concrete construction at the early age of fourteen as a foreman for Paul’s Concrete Foundation Company in Denver, a company owned by his father. Having gained valuable professional experience early in life, Mr. Turner started a concrete contracting business at age nineteen. He was a partner in two other foundation companies until he found success with three partners that grew to over 350 employees in CO, WY, and TX.  By the 1970's Mr. Turner was a well-known figure in the Denver area concrete construction industry, having overseen as part owner the drilled pier and foundation construction division of the largest concrete company in the region at the time.

Through his many years in foundation, flatwork, and caisson construction, Mr. Turner experienced firsthand the problems that expansive soils impose on concrete structures and became interested in developing products to properly isolate concrete structures from the effects of these soils. He combined his experiences with those of his uncle Robert Gates, one of the original developers of the Gates Concrete Forming System and founder of Falcon Manufacturing Company, makers of SureVoid Products. In January 1988, Mr. Turner became president of Falcon. With Mr. Turner's experience in business management, the fledgling company quickly grew and developed into SureVoid Products, Inc., and eventually into VoidForm Products, Inc.

PRESENTATION SUMMARY

Over the years intense efforts by Mr. Turner and his company toward the development of reliable void form products for the concrete construction industry has resulted in a variety of void form product lines, each with its own characteristics and specific applications. One of the newest product lines, StormVoid™ Waterproof Void Forms, is the culmination of their efforts and is the subject of Mr. Turner’s presentation.

StormVoid™ is a patent pending waterproof product for creating void spaces in order to isolate concrete foundations from expansive soil. This product supports wet concrete and other construction loads under beams and slabs and is ideal for use in wet soil conditions during periods of inclement weather. The plastic interiors of StormVoid™ support the imposed construction loads and yet bends with minimal uplift after the concrete cures, eliminating the transfer of high soil pressures to the slab and grade beams that might lift and damage the foundation and superstructure.

Mr. Turner demonstrated how StormVoid™ can be confidently used to create the specified void space when unexpected weather would otherwise prevent the installation of traditional corrugated paper carton void forms. Collapse pressures can be specified from 150 to 1,000 PSF or more if needed. The normal design of conventional paper void forms may support up to 5,000 PSF before moisture is introduced. But with StormVoid™’s plastic components, the design collapse pressure can be much less since the product does not rely upon ground moisture to deteriorate the form.