Pool builders know that a steel pool needs to be strong, as well as being stylish and functional.
Even the smallest of pools need to hold a massive amount of water without deforming, shifting the earth or cracking.
If you elect for a concrete swimming pool, reinforcing steel is required to ensure that the structure has adequate strength.
Swimming Pool Reinforcing Steel
Swimming pools use 250N grade steel which is fabricated at the steel mill to make it easier to cut and bend into position.
This trait is important because swimming pools are rarely square.
They have curves and sloping surfaces, steps and other features which mean that the reinforcing steel needs to conform to an unlimited number of possible designs.
Pool builders need to be able to easily cut and bend reinforcing steel into position across the entire pool before the concrete pour.
Swimming Pool Steel vs Regular Reinforcing Steel
Compared to regular deformed reinforcing steel, swimming pool steel isn’t as strong.
Deformed reinforcing steel is 500N grade, meaning it is twice as strong compared to swimming pool rebar.
But that doesn’t mean that swimming pools aren’t structurally sound just because they use 250N grade steel.
The engineer determines the grade and quantity of steel that is required to ensure it is strong enough to handle the weight of a swimming pool.
Final thoughts
Using regular deformed rebar would be overkill in most cases when constructing concrete pools.
It would make the job much harder to complete and therefore increase the labour costs to complete the work. It is not always about choosing the highest grade bar available.
It is just a matter of using the right type of steel for the job.