Production of radon-resistant foundations. Final report

Technical Report · Tue Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1987

OSTI ID:6802003

Scott, A G; Findlay, W O

Two houses with radon-resistant monolithic-slab foundations and a crawl-space house were built on a reclaimed phosphate mining area with soil radium concentrations of 5 to 12 pCi/g in Bartow, Florida. The houses also included a number of additional features suggested as methods for increasing the radon resistance of foundations. These were a site membrane, an improved subslab vapor-barrier membrane, and passive subslab ventilation. Construction of the foundations was monitored to identify field problems, and the costs of the individual features were identified. A six-month measurement program found that the average radon concentrations in all three houses were less than 2 pCi/1. Conventional housing on reclaimed land of that radium content would have been expected to have average radon concentrations greater than 10 pCi/1. Radon-resistant slab-on-grade foundations can be produced cost-effectively by the use of monolithic concrete foundations with sealed plumbing openings in the slab and subslab barrier membrane, and improved concrete practice. The additional radon-resistant features did not appear to have any value in this study. The site membrane was found difficult to use, expensive, and not very effective.

• Research Organization: American ATCON, Inc., Wilmington, DE
• OSTI ID: 6802003
• Report Number(s): PB-89-116149/XAB; FIPR/PUB-05-021-058
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500300* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
AIR POLLUTION
BUILDINGS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ENGINEERING
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
FOUNDATIONS
HOUSES
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
INVESTIGATIONS
ISOTOPES
MECHANICAL STRUCTURES
POLLUTION
PROGRESS REPORT
RADON ISOTOPES
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
SUPPORTS