What is ShieldFoam PLF?
ShieldFoam PLF (Pole Lock Foundation) is an industry tested and approved structural foundation foam for use with poles and posts. It is a closed-cell polyurethane foam that provides an effective and stress-free replacement for the use of concrete as a backfill. With fast setting properties (<15 minutes to set before conductor stringing or fence tensioning), minimal time, transport, and manual labour is required when compared to concrete or other backfill types.
Our foundation foam provides exceptional performance over both short and long-term projects. Based on testing in Australia, ShieldFoam gives exceptional short-term capacity, even when filling half the hole depth (recommended for long-term pole durability). In fact, it delivers better results than 3 months of consolidated tamped backfill.
ShieldFoam has been designed to not hold moisture around the pole or post at the critical groundline regions, while allowing for regular inspections techniques to be performed at ease.
ShieldFoam eliminates issues with concrete compaction, soil tamping, cracks and cold joints causing hidden corrosion issues, transport times for concrete to remote sites, and reduces manual labour.
Benefits of ShieldFoam PLF
Using ShieldFoam as your foundation backfill can have a range of benefits, including:
- >700kPa unconfined compressive strength.
- Made in New Zealand and designed for Australian and New Zealand requirements.
- Stronger than weak rock.
- Water tolerant.
- Fast set.
- Very high early strength.
- 13x expansion ratio.
- Fills gaps far smaller than concrete and regular compaction can reach.
- Use smaller auger sizes for difficult sites.
- Handy ready-to mix pack sizes with no waste.
- Does not shrink over time like higher expansion foams.
- Only need to fill the bottom half of the hole to get all the benefits.
- Low finish depth means better durability and inspection for the pole.
- Can be used for any pole or post material.
- Project time and potential cost savings.
- Consolidates poor soil.
- Can also be used to fill voids or gaps in general structures before coating with Polyurea also.
- Does not hold a flame
Technical Documents
Available Downloads: SDS (Safety Data Sheet), TDS (Technical Data Sheet)
| Title | Description | Hits | Date added | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDS ShieldFoam PLF Part B v2022_0 | PDF format | 311 | 25-10-2022 | DownloadPreview |
| SDS ShieldFoam PLF Part A v2022_0 | PDF format | 279 | 25-10-2022 | DownloadPreview |
| SCS-TDS ShieldFoam PLF ver2022_0 | PDF format | 302 | 25-10-2022 | DownloadPreview |
Specifications
Nominate ShieldFoam PLF backfill to a maximum of 400mm below ground line (recommended) and a minimum of 50% of the embedment depth of the pole/post. Refer to the TDS for useful tables that give the amount required for different hole and pole size combinations. ShieldFoam must be stored, mixed and applied in accordance with the manufacturers instructions.
If you want to use ShieldFoam for your next application and need a custom specification, contact us and we can write you one.