GB2376182A

GB2376182A - A swimming pool having a side wall which is partially above and partially below an original ground level

Info

Publication number: GB2376182A
Application number: GB0114071A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Roger Nicholas Lloyd
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-06-09
Filing date: 2001-06-09
Publication date: 2002-12-11
Also published as: GB0114071D0

Abstract

A swimming pool (10) comprises a side wall made from panels located in a hole in the ground (12), the side wall being partially above the original ground level (18) and partially below it. A stage (16), preferably made from the materials excavated when forming the recess, surrounds the side wall. Utilising the excavated material to support the side wall of the pool, as a type of embankment, means that the initial recess does not need to be as a large as for a wholly underground pool and reduces the cost of disposing of waste material.

Description

TITLE Swimming Pools DESCRIPTION This invention relates to swimming pools, methods of construction of swimming pools and kits of parts for use in constructing swimming pools.

The invention was originally conceived in connection with swimming pools, but it does have other applications, for example garden ponds and large paddling pools, and therefore the term"swimming pool"used in this specification is intended to encompass such other ponds pools and the like.

Many people would like to have a swimming pool in their back garden, but are put off by the cost of construction, the unsightliness of certain types of pool, the time required for maintenance, and the running cost if the pool is to be heated. The present invention addresses the former two issues.

Traditional back-garden swimming pools fall into two main types. The first type is the "above ground"pool, which as its name implies has a waterproof side wall built above ground level containing water above ground level. The other type is the"below ground"pool, which as its name implies is basically a hole in the ground with a waterproof bottom and side wall.

Generally below ground pools are more expensive to construct than above ground pools, mainly because of the cost of digging the hole. Also, the cost of carrying away and disposing of the material that has been dug out is considerable, and there may be problems with loading a lorry with the material from a back garden. It should be borne in mind that a considerable amount of material is involved. For example, the volume of a pool that is 20' (6.1 m) in diameter and 4' (1.2 m) deep is about 47 yd3 (35 m3), and so if the material had a specific gravity of two, it would have a mass of about 70 tons (70 tonnes). Although above ground pools tend to be less expensive and quicker to construct, they require a strong side wall to resist the pressure of the water in the pool. Also, much work may be required to make the pool aesthetically pleasing.

A first aspect of the invention provides a method of construction of a swimming pool on a piece of ground that, like an above ground pool, does not require masses of material to be remove from the site; that can more readily be made aesthetically pleasing than a conventional above ground pool; and that is generally very straightforward to construct by unskilled persons.

The method of the first aspect of the invention comprises the steps of: forming a recess in the piece of ground by removing a volume of the ground material and placing the removed ground material around the recess; building a side-wall for the swimming pool from a series of panels joined end to end in the recess so that the side-wall is partly below and partly above the original general ground level; using the removed ground material to back-fill the side-wall on the outer side thereof; and landscaping the removed ground material to form a stage above the original general ground level and surrounding the side-wall so that at least substantially all of the removed ground material is used up. Accordingly, the pool is partly above and partly below the original ground level. The material removed to make way for the pool does not need to be removed from the site, but is instead used to form the stage. The side-wall is formed from panels which can be pre-fabricated, easily transported to the construction site and quickly and easily assembled. The stage reinforces the side-wall so that the side-wall itself does not need to be particularly strong. However, in the case especially of a circular pool, it will be noted that the panel-formed side-wall will have great inherent strength.

Preferably, the material removed to make way for the pool accounts for at least 75%, and more preferably at least 90%, and even more preferably at least 95% of the material used to form the stage.

Preferably, the material removed to make way for the pool accounts for no more than 125%, and more preferably no more than 110%, and even more preferably no more than 105% of the material used to form the stage.

In the embodiment of the invention that will be described in detail later, a pool with a diameter of over 20' (6 m) and a depth of 4' (1.2 m) is constructed so that it is five-eighths below the original ground level and only three-eighths above the original ground level. In other words, the pool is more below ground level than above. All of the ground material that is removed to make way for the pool is used to form a convenient annular stage (or patio) around the pool that is 6' (1.8 m) wide and 1'6" (0.46 m) above the original ground level, with a pair of step each of a height of 6" (150 mm) leading up to the patio. Accordingly, the pool is much less obtrusive than if it were constructed completely above ground to a height of 4' (1.2 m), and indeed the pool can readily be finished so as to form an attractive garden feature.

Preferably, the method further includes the steps of : building a containing wall that is above the original general ground level, surrounds the location for the side-wall and extends to generally the same height as the eventual height of the side-wall; and filling the space between

the containing wall and the side-wall with such removed ground material. The containing wall assists in maintaining the stage in shape.

Preferably, the method further includes the steps of: building at least one further containing wall that is above the original general ground level, surrounds the first-mentioned containing wall and extends to a lesser height than the first containing wall; and filling the space between that further containing wall and the containing wall that is radially-inwardly therefrom with such removed ground material. Accordingly, one or more steps up to the stage can be provided.

Preferably, the method further includes the steps of: building an additional containing wall that is above the original general ground level, surrounds the location for the side-wall and is surrounded by the first containing wall. The main use of this additional wall is during construction to hold back the removed material. The method may further include the step of removing the additional containing wall after the side-wall has been built. Alternatively, if the additional containing wall does not extend above the height of the side-wall and first containing wall, it can simply be left in place.

Preferably, the containing wall, or at least one of the containing walls, is also formed from a series of panels joined end to end.

Preferably, the containing wall, or at least one of the containing walls, is built before the recess is formed. Assuming the original ground is level, the containing walls can therefore simply be placed on the ground Preferably, each panel is the full height of the wall of which that panel forms part.

Preferably, the method further includes the step of levelling the base of the recess, the side-wall being built on the levelled base.

Preferably, the method further includes the step of fitting a liner over the base of the recess and up the side-wall.

In its simplest and strongest form, the side-wall is circular, in which case, the panels for the side-wall are preferably preformed to be arcuate, and more preferably with a pre-formed radius of curvature of each panel that is substantially equal to the required radius of curvature of the side-wall. However, at least part of the side-wall may alternatively be non-circular.

A second aspect of the invention provides a swimming pool constructed by the method of the first aspect of the invention.

A third aspect of the invention provides a swimming pool formed on a piece of ground having a general ground level, comprising: a side-wall formed from a series of panels joined end to end in a recess in the ground so that the side-wall is partly below and partly above the original general ground level; and a stage above the general ground level and surrounding the side-wall, the volume of the stage above the general ground level being generally equal to the volume of the recess below the general ground level.

A fourth aspect of the invention provides a kit of parts for use in the method of the first aspect of the invention, or for constructing a swimming pool according to the second or third aspect of the invention, the kit comprising a set of the panels for the side-wall, and means for joining the panels end to end in series.

Preferably, the kit further includes a set of the panels for the containing wall, and means for joining the containing wall panels end to end in series, the height of the containing wall panels being less than the height of the side-wall panels.

Preferably, the panels are preformed with a particular radius of curvature so as to form such a wall of a particular diameter without the need for any further bending of the panels.

A specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described, purely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure I is an isometric view, partly cut-away, of a piece of ground before construction of a swimming pool; Figure 2 is similar to Figure 1, but after construction of the swimming pool; Figures 3-10 are slice views through half of the piece of land showing different stages in the construction of the swimming pool; and Figure 11 is an isometric view of a panel and part of another panel used in the construction of the swimming pool.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, in outline, in order to construct a swimming pool 10 on a piece of ground 12, ground material is removed from the area bounded by the phantom line 14 shown in Figure 1 and is used to form a tiered stage or patio 16 surrounding the pool 10 as

shown in Figure 2 so that the pool 10 is partly above and partly below the original ground level 18, and so that the volume of the material removed to form the pool 10 is generally equal to the volume of the stage 16 above the original ground level whereby it is unnecessary to remove any substantial amount of material from the site or to bring in any substantial amount of ground material in order to build the pool 10.

The method of construction of the swimming pool 10 will now be described in more detail with reference to Figures 3 to 10.

The piece of ground 12 is shown in its initial state in Figure 3.

Four concentric circular containing walls 20,22, 24,26 are then placed on the ground 12 as shown in Figure 4. (Three of the containing walls 20,22, 24 can also be seen in Figure 2.) Each containing wall 20,22, 24,26 is formed from a series of pre-formed, slightly arcuate, sheet steel panels 28, as shown in Figure 11, that are joined end to end with an overlap by means of nuts and bolts, pop rivets or other fastening means 30. Preferably, the steel panels 28 are galvanised or of stainless steel and are of 16 gauge (1.5 mm) thickness. In the example that will be described, the panel sizes, number of panels, panel overlaps, wall circumferences, wall diameters and preformed radii of curvature of the panels are as follows:

Wall 20 Wall 22 Wall 24 Wall 26 R' R' R' R' Pane ! Length (L) (2. 438m) (2. 438m) (2. 438m) (2. 438 m) 1' 6'' 1' 6'' 1'6'' Panel Height (H) (457 mm) (305 mm) (152 mm) (457 mm) Number of Panels (N) 14 15 15 11 Panel Overlap (0) 8. 4" 9. 2" 4. 2" 12.0" Panel Overlap (0) (213mm) (234mm) (106mm) (305mm) Wall Circumference (C) 102'2. 4" 108'5. 8" 114'9. 2" 76'11. 6" = N x (L-O) (31. 15 m) (33. 07 m) (34. 98 m) (23. 46 m) Wall Diameter (#) 32'6. 4" 34'6. 4" 36'6. 4" 24'6" = C/7t (9. 92 m) (10. 53 m) (11. 13 m) (7. 47 m) Panel Radius of Curvature (R) 16'3. 2" 17'3. 2" 18'3. 2" 12'3" = (p/2 (4. 96 m) (5. 26 m) (5. 57 m) (3. 73 m)

A flat-bottomed recess 28 is then formed inside the containing wall 26 by digging out ground material and placing the removed material 30 between the inner containing wall 26 and the outer containing wall 24, as shown in Figure 5. The recess is dug to a depth D of 2'9" (838 mm) below the ground level 18 and has a bottom diameter of 21'8" (6.60 m).

A level base 32 is then laid on the bottom of the recess 28, as shown in Figure 6. The base 32 may be of sand, blockwork, paving slabs or a combination of such materials and has a total thickness of 3" (75 mm).

A circular wall 34 is then erected on the base 32 as shown in Figure 7 (and as can also be seen in Figure 2. ) The wall 34 is concentric with the other walls 20,22, 24,26 and will form the side-wall of the swimming pool 10. The side-wall 34 is formed from a series of pre-formed, slightly arcuate, panel of the type already described with reference to Figure 11. The panel size, number of panels, panel overlap, wall circumference, wall diameter and preformed radius of curvature of the panels for the side-wall 34 are as follows:

Wall 34 8' Panel Length (L) (2.438 m) 4' Panel Height (H) (1.219 m) Number of Panels (N) 9 10'' Panel Overlap (O) (254 mm) Wall Circumference (C) 64' 6'' = N x (L-O) (19.66 m) Wall Diameter (#) 20' 6.4'' = C/# (6.26 m) Panel Radius of Curvature (R) 10' 3.2'' = #/2 (3.13 m)

It should be noted that the walls 20,26, 34 extend upwardly to the same height.

The wall 26 is then dismantled and removed, as shown in Figure 8, so that some of the ground material 30 falls downwardly and partly back-fills the wall 34.

A preformed, single-piece pool liner 36 of conventional material is then fitted so as to cover the base 32 and the inner surface of the side-wall 34, as shown in Figure 9. The liner 36 has a thickened peripheral lip 38 that fits over the upper edge of the side-wall 34.

The removed ground material 30 is then levelled off and tamped down between sidewall 34 and the wall 20 so as to form the main surface of the stage 16, and also on the insides of the walls 22,24 so as to form a pair of steps 40,42 leading up to the stage 16, as shown in Figure 10. Preferably, as the backfilling of the wall 34 increases in height, the pool is filled with water to a similar level to resist any tendency for the wall 24 to buckle inwardly.

The stage 16 and steps 40,42 may then be finished as desired, for example with slabs, blockwork, crazy paving, grass or a combination of these materials. The outer surfaces of the walls 20,22, 24 may be left natural, may be painted, or may be covered for example with stone cladding or logwork.

Ignoring for simplicity the thickness of the walls and liner, it will be appreciated that:

* the volume Vu of ground material removed to make room for the pool 10 and base 32 is about 33. 7 yd3 (25. 8 m3), i. e. V. = n. (p34'. D/4 ; * the volume V2 of ground material placed between the walls 20, 34 is about 27. 8 yd3 (21. 2 m3), i. e. V2-. ( (- (p3). H2o/4 ; * the volume V3 of ground material placed between the walls 20, 22 is about 3. 9 yd3 (3. 0 m3), i. e. V3 = n. ( (p22'- < p20'). H22/4 ; * the volume V4 of ground material placed between the walls 22, 24 is about 2. 1 yd3 (1.6 m3), i. e. V4 = 7t. ( < p242- (p24). H24/4; and * the total volume of material placed between the walls 34,24 (V2 + V3 + V4) is about 33.8 yd3 (25.8 m3), which is substantially equal to the volume Va of ground material removed to make room for the pool 10 and base 32. Accordingly, it is unnecessary to bring in any substantial amount of additional ground material to build the pool or to take away any substantial amount of ground material after the pool has been built.

It will be appreciated that many modifications and developments may be made to the embodiment of the invention described above.

For example, in order to assist in positioning the walls 20,22, 24,26, 34, they may be provided with lugs 46, as shown in Figure 11, through which a metal stake 48 can pass and be driven into the ground.

Although the walls 20,22, 24,34 have been described as concentric, the pool 10 may be arranged to be off-centre with respect to the stage 16. This may be desirable if the pool is to be sited in the corner of a garden, or if a wider stage 16 is required part-way around the pool. Also, a different number of steps 40,42 may be constructed, and the steps 40,42 need not extend all around the stage 16, and indeed may be omitted altogether if desired.

Although a circular pool has been described with arcuate panels, the pool may be constructed to have other shapes using flat panels, arcuate panels with different curvatures and angled panels. In this case, it may be necessary to provide additional support struts to prevent

the walls leaning or buckling inwardly or outwardly. However, such support struts can be covered by the stage 16 so that they are hidden from view.

The recess 28 may be formed by manual digging. Alternatively, a digger machine such as a"mini-digger"may be employed. In this case, one panel may be omitted from each of the walls 20,22, 24,26 until just before completion of the stage shown in Figure 5 so that the digger may be driven out once most of the recess 28 has been dug. The remaining panels are then fitted in place and the digging is completed manually.

It should be noted that the embodiment of the invention has been described above purely by way of example and that many other modifications and developments may be made thereto within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A method of construction of a swimming pool on a piece of ground having a general ground level, comprising the steps of: forming a recess in the piece of ground by removing a volume of the ground material and placing the removed ground material around the recess; building a side-wall for the swimming pool from a series of panels joined end to end in the recess so that the side-wall is partly below and partly above the original general ground level; using the removed ground material to back-fill the side-wall on the outer side thereof; and landscaping the removed ground material to form a stage above the original general ground level and surrounding the side-wall so that at least substantially all of the removed ground material is used up.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the side-wall extends further below than above the original ground level.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, further including the steps of : building a containing wall that is above the original general ground level, surrounds the location for the side-wall and extends to generally the same height as the eventual height of the sidewall; and filling the space between the containing wall and the side-wall with such removed ground material.
4. A method as claimed in claim 3, further including the steps of : building at least one further containing wall that is above the original general ground level, surrounds the first-mentioned containing wall and extends to a lesser height than the first containing wall; and filling the space between that further containing wall and the containing wall that is radiallyinwardly therefrom with such removed ground material.
5. A method as claimed in claim 3 or 4, further including the steps of : building an additional containing wall that is above the original general ground level, surrounds the location for the side-wall and is surrounded by the first containing wall.

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6. A method as claimed in claim 5, further including the step of removing the additional containing wall after the side-wall has been built.
7. A method as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein the additional containing wall does not extend above the height of the side-wall and first containing wall.
8. A method as claimed in any of claims 3 to 7, wherein the containing wall, or at least one of the containing walls, is formed from a series of panels joined end to end.
9. A method as claimed in any of claims 3 to 8, wherein the containing wall, or at least one of the containing walls, is built before the recess is formed.
10. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each panel is the full height of the wall of which that panel forms part.
11. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, further including the step of levelling the base of the recess, the side-wall being built on the levelled base.
12. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, further including the step of fitting a liner over the base of the recess and up the side-wall.
13. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the side-wall is circular.
14. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the panels for the side-wall are preformed to be arcuate.
15. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein each panel has a pre-formed radius of curvature that is substantially equal to the required radius of curvature of the side-wall.
16. A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 12, wherein at least part of the side-wall is non-circular.

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17. A method of construction of a swimming pool, substantially as described with reference to the drawings.
18. A swimming pool constructed by a method as claimed in any preceding claim.
19. A swimming pool formed on a piece of ground having a general ground level, comprising: a side-wall formed from a series of panels joined end to end in a recess in the ground so that the side-wall is partly below and partly above the original general ground level; and a stage above the general ground level and surrounding the side-wall, the volume of the stage above the general ground level being generally equal to the volume of the recess below the general ground level.
20. A swimming pool, substantially as described with reference to the drawings.
21. A kit of parts for use in the method of any of claims 1 to 17 or for constructing a swimming pool as claimed in any of claims 18 to 20, comprising a set of the panels for the sidewall, and means for joining the panels end to end in series.
22. A kit as claimed in claim 21 when referring back to claim 3, further including a set of the panels for the containing wall, and means for joining the containing wall panels end to end in series, the height of the containing wall panels being less than the height of the side-wall panels.
23. A kit as claimed in claim 21 or 22, wherein the panels are preformed with a particular radius of curvature so as to form such a wall of a particular diameter without the need for any further bending of the panels.
24. A kit of parts for use in constructing a swimming pool, substantially as described with reference to the drawings.