Article: Robust Contentment / October 2023

Fig. 1: A swimming pool can never visually compete with the ocean. For this project, the elegant pool design serves as a perfect complement to the spectacular setting.

This beautiful project, nestled on the Connecticut shores of the Long Island Sound, required a careful balance of robust construction and design, and careful adherence to the environmental codes protecting the adjacent oceanic rock formations and biologically sensitive tide pools. “It was a steep challenge,” explains Bill Drakeley, but he and his company welcomed the opportunity.

This project started with a spectacular setting. It’s located in Connecticut in an area known as the Gulf Coast on Long Island Sound. It’s in an exclusive, private community where people both enjoy the outdoor lifestyle but are also mostly very private. It’s not a place where they have neighborhood block parties.

These particular clients are exceedingly wealthy, making a fortune in finance. They have an extremely low profile and treasure their contented lifestyle. They are also thankful for their success, and are very athletic, healthy people who use swimming as part of their fitness regimen.

The pool we created for their home was designed to reflect and serve all of those qualities. It’s both beautiful, fits neatly with the setting, and is also built for swimming.

Fig. 2: Aerial view showcasing the unique five-sided shape, the beautiful landscaping, and the oceanic rock formations that make this pool both aesthetically appealing and environmentally conscious.

Fig. 3: Executing the precise edge detail required zero tolerance construction and dogged adherence to all applicable workmanship standards.

Across the waters

The property is right on the water in an area that features protected coastal rock formations and tide pools. It’s an enormous property that includes a number of small satellite islands just off shore. Even working at the so-called high-end of the market, it’s rare to work on a property with its own archipelago.

The pool was being build as part of a complete property renovation. It’s big and is basically a rectangle with an angled cut out on the deep end that makes it technically a five-sided polygon. It’s 60-ft (18 m) long, 20 ft (6 m) on the shallow end, and 16 ft (5 m) at the narrow end, which is 9 ft (2.7 m) deep.

From the start, we were told the pool was built for swimming; the clients and their grown children are all athletic and regular swimmers. They’ve been all over the world scuba diving, sailing, deep-sea fishing, and very much living an adventurous, aquatic lifestyle. They needed a pool that was not dainty, so that’s what we gave them.

The interior is designed with narrow, 2 ft (0.6 m) steps and a long bench that runs the length of the pool to take advantage of the view while, at the same time, leaving as much room for swimming as possible.

It also has to be beautiful. It’s an all-perimeter overflow designed by Janice Parker Landscape Architects based in nearby Greenwich, CT. She’s a truly gifted designer who pays attention to both the big picture and the fine details; she is always working to find the best solution for the project parameters in play.

In this case, the aesthetic is relatively simplistic and based on the idea that you don’t visually want to compete with the natural setting; instead, the aesthetic forges a visual connection between the landscape and the view of the ocean. Hence, the edge detail that raises the reflective surface of the water to grade, creating a powerful yet subtle visual transition. It looks great from all angles.

Edge on a ledge

Parker brought us into the project and asked us to submit a bid to the general contractor who builds super-high-end residential projects. When we were introduced to the project team and the owners, we immediately started talking about some of the specific challenges involved with building the pool so close to the water.

Fig. 4: Working so close to the shore can create challenges when it comes to the needed substructure and dealing with ground water or sandy soil conditions.

The pool abuts a rock ledge that’s part of the coastline’s natural geology, which includes beautiful and environmentally sensitive tide pools. Additionally, we had to work around a pine tree immediately adjacent to the pool that is growing up through a rock outcropping, which is the reason for the angled portion of the pool shape.

Working against what amounts to a natural seawall, there was also water constantly moving into the ground, so we had to run a dewatering system throughout the entire course of the project. In that setting, we would build a big pool with a 360 degree perimeter overflow detail and surge tanks - all without disturbing so much as a single snail.

Fig. 5: That was not the situation here. The solid-rock shoreline in this area served as the form for the pool structure, an advantage that simplified the process.

The pool structure itself is carved out of solid rock, so there was no need for piles, grade beams, or any kind of elaborate foundation. We made sure the rock was stable and drainable, which it was, but we also installed hydrostatic relief valves throughout the pool. The excavation required some heavy-duty jackhammering, but it was done in such a way to leave the natural rock untouched.

Fig. 6: So often, the true art and craft of the construction resides in details that will go unseen once complete. The near-perfect formwork on this project is a prime example.

Drakeley Pools was chosen largely because of our experience in large, complex projects - both residential and commercial. We’re good at construction details and also at explaining to building departments, health departments, and city officials how a pool needs to work that won’t work.

surge elevation

Fig. 7: It’s a basic consideration, but property elevating the steel above the ground is critical for structural integrity. Simple details matter. As is true of all-perimeter overflow systems, the forming, reinforcing steel, and shotcrete had to be installed to the highest possible standards and low tolerances. Suffice it say, this was not a job for a novice builder.

Because of the environmental regulations, we cannot locate pool equipment in the storm surge. Our circulation system had to be designed with surge tanks below grade that circulate to an equipment pad that’s 60 ft away and 15 ft (4.6 m) above grade in a secondary outbuilding. Specifically, FEMA regulations prohibit filtration systems at sea level.

The code language in FEMA 4 states that “where appropriate” all mechanical systems need to be above the storm surge line. In this case, working with a gravity edge-flow system, there is no way to pump the water uphill with pumps at a higher elevation. I pounded on that concept and explained that, in this case, the requirement for all equipment to be elevated was decidedly not feasible. It simply wouldn’t work. Fortunately, that argument was convincing enough for them to approve a variance.

The plumbing comes off the overflow gutter manifold and in suction outlets on the bench inside the pool. It flows to a surge tank beneath the garage of the main house where we have four pumps pulling from a tank and pushing the water uphill.

From there, it is pumped up to the second building where the filters, heater, and treatment systems are located. The flow is divided between the edge overflow, the filtration and heating systems, and a third that feeds the ozone/chemical treatment system.

The return flows back to the pool via the same path, back down the hill, around the surge tank, and back to a series of flow returns in the pool floor. It’s a tricky hydraulic set up that we engineered in-house.

It took quite bit of convincing, lobbying, and repetition, but in the end, the powers that be approved the plan and we were able to go forward.

And through it all, the precious pine tree still stands and commands the view, and the inhabitants of the tide pools didn’t even know we were there and remain as content as can be.

PROFILE: Watershape University

Watershape University: Defining Aquatic Excellence at Every Turn

Watershape University (WU) is a leading provider of quality instruction -- live and online -- targeting the business of watershaping with design, engineering, and construction programs for students of all levels in the pool, spa, aquatics, and outdoor living sectors. WU supports and promotes the use of recreational and decorative water through accredited education and fosters a greater understanding of the benefits and value of aquatic activities and lifestyle.

Although founded in August 2019 by David J. Peterson and William T. Drakeley, WU is defined by decades of teaching and professional practice among staff, faculty, and volunteers engaged in its educational and credentialing programs. WU encourages personal development through membership in the elite International Watershape Institute (IWI), providing principled leadership, a supportive culture and altruism to benefit the industry and society.

Our multi-pronged approach includes third-party accredited education designed to provide a credentialed path for career advancement through WU; financial support from manufacturers/suppliers through corporate engagement; coaching and outreach through the IWI.

WU acquired WaterShapes.com (formerly WaterShapes Magazine) in Spring 2020 as a trusted, digital resource for the industry, professional community, and consumers of all things aquatic. WU has also established on ongoing strategic alliance with Wallace “J” Nichols, author of the best-selling book “Blue Mind.” With J, WU established the Live Blue Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to “getting people near, in, on and under water – for life.”

We believe that principled leadership, honesty and integrity, a supportive culture, and altruism will result in personal growth and professional gain for the entire industry and consuming public. We mean to see pools and other types of watershapes recognized as the gateway to the world of water, and WU considered the leading educational authority on how best to design, build, service and sell manmade bodies of water.

The work we do at WU has widespread benefits. Our constituents include: our credentialed students; their companies, employees and subcontractors; our faculty and coaches; corporations engaged as WU associates, colleagues and partners; the entire professional watershapes community; consumers, and all of humankind.

WU is founded on the premise that an educated “team” of professionals is the best setting for collective and individual success. To borrow an iconic phrase “of the people, by the people, for the people” – that is WU. We are an ever-growing, and evergreen TEAM of individuals and companies working together to ensure the long-term prosperity of the aquatics industry through an educated workforce and an educated world on the benefits of an aquatic lifestyle.

Principled universities long survive their founders. That is the expectation with WU – a living and breathing entity that will thrive long into the future, based on values and principles that have always and will forever endure.

WU is devoted to promulgating the highest possible standards for design, engineering and construction, including those maintained and promoted by ASA for proper and reliable mixing and placement of shotcrete.

To view the full profile in Shotcrete Magazine, click here.

ARTICLE: Failures of Trust

Engineers carry an almost sacred trust, with watershapers relying on them to design structures and systems that are reliable, science-based and code-compliant. When that trust is broken, the consumer’s investment is at risk -- as is the watershape builder’s reputation.

Engineers are highly trusted. In a recent Gallup poll asking which professions are the most trusted, nurses were number one and engineers came in second. Engineers placed above medical doctors, police, psychiatrists and clergy. Not surprisingly, used-car salesmen and members of Congress were at the bottom of the polls!

That high level of public trust begs the question of whether or not engineers truly warrant such rock-solid credibility? Engineers are not all the same and certainly when considering the profession, most are trustworthy, practicing ethically and responsibly. However, there are some that most assuredly are not. Unfortunately, a clear and compelling example of less than responsible engineering can be found here in the pool industry.

When you obtain a set of plans from a consulting engineer – a structural design, for example – you have every right to believe that their calculations, specifications and plans are properly prepared and correct for the project at hand. In most cases, that trust is well-founded; but there are some glaring exceptions.

You run into problems with what we call “mail order” or “off the shelf” plans developed and sold by a few engineering firms. By packaging generic plans, these firms enhance their profits while dumbing down their specifications and allow builders to cut corners.

Some people refer to these as “standard plans,” which is a euphemism and misnomer. No two pools are exactly alike. The soils are never exactly the same, nor the property, the environmental conditions, and certainly not the homeowners. Therefore, there really is no such thing as a standard plan. We believe engineers that market plans as such are not meeting the standards required of true professional engineers.

PERPETUATING MYTHS

The unfortunate fact is, many pool builders will use an engineer’s generic design, plans and specifications if they think it will lower the cost of the pool, when compared to more rigorously engineered plans designed for a specific pool project. Some builders will ask, why should I use #4 (#13M) reinforcing bars when this engineer says I can get away #3 (#10M)? Mail-order engineers give them the answer they want.

In other words, not all engineers should be trusted. Some of the lowered standards you see in mail-order plans do, in point of verifiable fact, lead to failures or produce a final pool structure that is much less durable. The fact that the engineer’s plans and resulting structure was not engineered for the specific conditions of a particular site only becomes known, all too often, in the discovery phase of an expensive and time-consuming lawsuit.

The ugly truth is, there are engineers who will lie to you because they’re more concerned with their bottom line than they are with their responsibility to prepare proper designs as expressed in the integrity of their plans. They may ignore some ethical codes while seeking profits.

The good news is it’s often easy to spot an unscrupulous engineer in the pool construction industry if you know what to look for. Usually, the corners they cut will be obvious in their project deliverables.

In our industry the biggest area of deception is concrete and reinforcement. They cut corners in the compressive strength and permeability of concrete, cover over the embedded reinforcing steel, the size and spacing of reinforcing steel and even the thickness of the concrete. They attempt to get away with it by using clever language that’s meant to confuse builders and authorities having jurisdiction.

One of the arguments, for example, is that it’s okay for concrete to be permeable, because that’s the plasterer’s job. Builders don’t have to worry about water permeating the concrete shell because the plaster is there to stop it. Well, that’s just not true. A properly designed and constructed concrete pool shell should be functionally watertight.

Click here to read the full article featured in Shotcrete Magazine.

ARTICLE: Hot Weather Shotcrete

Placing shotcrete in hot weather can be a risky proposition if you don’t follow basic guidelines. Success under these conditions, calls for controlling concrete temperature and mixture design while also managing details of the installation and curing processes.

The summer is always busy, but that may be a huge understatement this year. The country is coming back to life with consumers very aware of their personal space and wanting to do more with it – which, often times means adding watershapes.

As a result, the heightened demand for our pool industry’s products will likely lead to all sorts of logistical and supply issues. The availability of concrete may well be one of those critical issues. Ready-mix suppliers have informed me that during this forced downtime, many homeowners, do-it-yourselfers, are taking on their own concrete work. Suppliers caution that when the contractors fully come back online during the summer, there could be delays in product supply and even shortages of ready-mix delivery trucks. To varying degrees, it’s often true that hot weather and elevated temperatures drive up demand.

Especially with the current extraordinary circumstances, the first step in hot-weather concrete work, whether you’re doing wet-mix or dry-mix shotcrete, is you need to communicate with your concrete material suppliers and place orders well in advance. That’s the only way you’ll know what to expect for availability and delivery, so you can schedule accordingly and in turn let the client know what to expect.

Beyond that basic caveat, there are specific measures and conditions required whenever you’re placing concrete in hot weather. Shotcrete placement in hot weather requires temperature control, environmental control, and jobsite control.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

I currently serve as Chair of American Concrete Institute’s (ACI) 506-H Pool Shotcrete Committee. We are writing guidelines for the shotcrete placement process, as it pertains to both wet- or dry-mix for pools. In the hot weather shotcrete section, we refer to the existing hot weather concreting documents from ACI 305, which define acceptable concrete temperatures and procedures.

According to the ACI 506 pool shotcrete document, you should always keep concrete as cool as possible. You should not apply shotcrete when ambient temperatures are over 95°F (35°C), unless special precautions are taken. The precautions should be reviewed by the pool designer or other experienced engineer. You can cool the concrete by using cold water to mix it, misting systems, wetting blankets, and shade. Each of these options slow down evaporation and help reduce the potential for early age plastic shrinkage cracking on the surface of the concrete.

Considering what’s happening in the fresh concrete matrix helps explain why these measures are necessary. When you mix water with portland cement hydration occurs. The cement hydration produces changes in the cement particles that lead to strengthening as the particles interlock. The hydration process leads to a volumetric change in the concrete, as well as additional heat from the chemical reaction.

When you’re already working in warm conditions, you can easily wind up generating too much heat if you’re not taking measures to cool down the environmental temperatures and the concrete itself. If temperature of reinforcement, embedments, or forms is greater than 120°F (49°C), use a fine mist of water to moisten and cool hot surfaces. Remove standing water before shotcrete placement.

Yes, it is possible to successfully place shotcrete in temperatures over 105°F (41°C) or even higher – consider Arizona and Nevada. But you must take recommended precautions. Do everything you can to avoid the heat of the day by working in the morning, if possible. You may also consider erecting a shade structure to keep the concrete, forms and reinforcing out of direct sunlight.

To read the full article featured in Shotcrete Magazine, click here.

ARTICLE: Transparent Ingenuity

Working in the custom swimming pool market requires a keen understanding of how shotcrete can be adapted to complex and challenging structures. The work necessitates creativity on one hand and adherence to ACI and ASA standards and practices on the other. It means being inventive and disciplined at the same time.

The Sherwood water shape project is something special. It’s one of the more creative and challenging residential swimming pool environments we’ve ever created and I’ve been humbled by the recognition it’s received. Looking back, I now see it as a prime example of the importance of understanding how all the phases of pool building fit together and support each other. There is a healthy list of takeaways from this challenging and award winning project. Topping that list stands the importance of understanding shotcrete and the techniques used to place it.

IN SITU

Located on the Connecticut coast overlooking Long Island Sound, the water feature drew its contemporary design from the architecture of the new house, a modern version of the old coastal mansions once built and adorned by the Rockefellers, Morgans, and Vanderbilts. The house and surrounding architecture and landscape architecture incorporate a contemporary yet strict linear version of hillside old-world construction. It’s a spectacular property that warranted an equally eye-catching water shape design.

The house and all its features, including the pool, blend into the modernist property overlooking the ocean. The pool is a reflection of the architecture and the spectacular setting. It’s a three-tiered pool, spa, vanishing edge, slot overflow and acrylic panel design with a German Grando cover that rolls out from an automatic shotcrete floor vault and sits onto a shotcrete ledge along both long walls of the pool.

All of this is set on a dramatic slope – there’s a 20-ft (6.1 m) drop from the top of the pool area to the bottom of the equipment vault. The soil conditions vary wildly on the property due to the site’s many uses dating back to colonial days, meaning the structural design relied heavily on soils analysis and geotechnical engineering.

To effectively execute a project of this complexity, every step in the process is aimed at setting the stage for the next, from the excavation up to the finish materials. The topography and spacing of construction required marrying proven shotcrete methodology into and on top of, a form-and-pour filter vault and supporting lower wall foundation.

The structure’s footprint and position were first established with rock and ledge removal down to a workable and competent substrate. We then cast the supporting foundational walls, footings, and locking mechanisms into the steep vertical slope of the pool area.

Click here to read the full article featured in Shotcrete Magazine.

ARTICLE: Acrylic Pool Walls and Windows

Add a sleek, modern look to your poolscape with acrylic pool walls.

Pool builders and homeowners constantly find new ways to set their pools apart from others—and one of the most eye-catching and attractive features to make a pool stand out are clear acrylic pool walls.

“It creates depth, it adds another dimension,” says Paul O. Gardner, vice president of engineering, quality & safety at Reynolds Polymer. “It takes the pool experience to another level.”

“An acrylic viewing window adds a dramatic effect to the simplest of designs,” says Jason Jovaag, general manager of Aquatic Glazing International. Acrylic windows stand out day or night, “whether it’s the ambient sunlight casting rays into the pool,” says Jovaag, “or LED lights illuminating the poolscape at night.”

The experts recommend placing your acrylic wall at the focus point of the pool—they’re common beside a sunken fire pit lounge, or at a negative edge. “It ends up being like an open campfire on a summers night,” says Gardner. “You can’t stop looking at it.” 

The most important thing to note: the structures aren’t easy to build. “These take serious engineering,” says Bill Drakeley, principle and founder of Drakeley Pool Company. “The test of a quality installation is how does it weather over one season, two seasons, five seasons,” he says. “The hard part is making it continuously perform, and making it sustainable year after year.”

Acrylic panels are easiest to add to pools in warmer climates with little temperature variation. While acrylic panels aren’t for every homeowner, Gardner says that “with proper engineering and consideration of the environment, there are solutions for most conditions.”

Click here to read the full article featured in Luxury Pools + Outdoor Living.

ARTICLE: How to Apply Shotcrete

Bill Drakeley, principal of Drakeley Pool Company, is a well-respected expert witness and educator on the use of shotcrete in mines, tunnels, and of course, swimming pools and other water-holding stuctures. 

In his article in AQUA magazine "How to Apply Shotcrete," Bill reiterates the message he has long promoted: quality material applied using excellent technique equals a strong and durable structure. Anything less is a disservice to the client and to the construction industry.