Reinforcement

Clarification on the Structural Impact of a Reduced Pool Bond Beam Width

This is written in response to requests for clarification on the structural impact of a reduced bond beam width for swimming pools built per Pool Engineering, Inc. Standard Pool Structural Plan and associated details.

The basic purpose of the bond beam is to provide a wide section at the top of the pool/spa wall to serve as a coping seat. If the calculations for our Standard Structural Pool Plan were to be reviewed (as well as pool plans and calculations by other engineering firms) one would see that there are no specific calculations supporting any exact width for the bond beam. The bond beam width is based simply on engineer’s discretion and experience, rather then any finite or empirical determination.