Steepness of Slope to Deep End

13 years ago

So, they are excavating our pool right now, (pool will be effectively 57' by 30', and transitioning from a 4' shallow end to 10' deep end), and I would like to know if it will be possible to have our shallow end extend further toward the middle of the pool. PB says that if he makes it any steeper (and I think he said it is a ratio of 1:3 right now), that a pool cleaner could have trouble getting out of the deep end (that wouldn't be good!). But my neighbor says that pool cleaners are made to go all the way up the walls of the pool, and even onto the baja shelf. So, my question is: how steep is reasonable? Thanks!!

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Comments (11)

poolguynj
13 years ago
Listen to the PB.

Scott
jasonlmarsh
13 years ago
I believe I have read somewhere that the maximum legal slope is 1:3 for the transition from the shallow to deep end.
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jasonlmarsh
13 years ago
Do you really need 10' depth? You can gain 6' more in your shallow area by just going to 8' depth.
Rack Etear
13 years ago
"I believe I have read somewhere that the maximum legal slope is 1:3 for the transition from the shallow to deep end.
"

Possible a municipal guideline, but not a federal law.

There are many municipal pools built with almost straight walls after the break.
jasonlmarsh
13 years ago
I went back and looked a little more and it appears that it is an ANSI/NSPI requirement. I'm not sure if this only applies to "public" pools or all pools, but either way, I'd probably stick with the 1:3 limitation. Check section 5.5.3 of the link below.

"ANSI/NSPI-1 and ANSI/NSPI-5 both address this by limiting the slope to 1:3 (33.3%) maximum in Sections 6.3.4 and 5.6.3, respectively. The IBC does not address this issue, but the CBC adds Figures 31B-1, 31B-2, and 31B-3 which all indicate a maximum transition slope of 1:3 for commercial pools"

Here is a link that might be useful: ANSI/NSPI requirements
just-a-pb
13 years ago
I assume you are doing a diving board since you are going 10'. 1 to 3 slope is the max with diving equipment. Reason is you dont want to make a more sheer wall someone can crash into while diving.
In general most pool builders, use the 1 to 3 slope as the max.
kaseyray2
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you all so much for your input. I know I picked a great PB, but you all help ease my mind. We need the depth for an 8' high jumprock. We want to dive!
rice_rocket
13 years ago
Did you say 8 foot high jump rock? Wow! That's way outside the ANSI/NSPI Type 5 spec (69" height stationery platform, 9' min water depth). And extrapolating from the spec, I'm wondering whether 10' is adequate for an 8' high platform?
jasonlmarsh
13 years ago
WOW, I can't wait to see some pictures!!! :)
ncrealestateguy
13 years ago
Poster says that the pool is 57 feet long... with a pool this long, you could have a 90 degree drop off at 25 feet and still have plenty of length to dive in.
just-a-pb
13 years ago
"jump rock" and "diving" are two totally different things.
We build some things to jump from, and others to dive from.
Unless very skilled, diving from a 8' platform could cause damage to your person.

That said we have a project going right now that we have jump rocks at 8' and 10' going into a 12' deep pool.