Dust control on gravel roads 3

[witchdoc]

Does anyone have experience with an environmentally friendly, economical dust control solution for gravel roads? I have a problem with dust during dry weather at the entrance to our plant. Currently, the crushed limestone road holds up well -- no rutting or potholes. However, the dust from trucks is becoming a real nuisance. Money for paving is not available.

 

[jons999]

You said enviromently friendly so you probably don't want to hear "spray it with oil" but thats the only thing i can think of. Eithier that or lower the speed limit.

-Jon

 

[Hambley]

I agree that oil is the conventional alternative, but that it's not environmentally friendly. There is another obvious option, and that is simply water. If you are in an area where water is rationed, though, that may not be an option either. I don't think reducing speeds will make much of a difference -- truck and car tires will raise the dust regardless. in an enclosed area, dusts can be kept down electrostatically, but I don't know how you would do that on a road.

 

[snafuman]

Calcium chloride is often used as a dust control agent and works well but it may not be "environmentally friendly". Lignon sulfonate is a forest industries by product which is sometimes used but I have no experience with. Try doing a web seach for dust control agents to see what is for sale out there.

 

[Rich2001]

Could a vegetable oil be used as the spray? At approximately $25.00/ton for soybean oil it might be an envirnomnetally friendly alternative to petroleum-based oils for dust control.

 

[earle]

Depending on availability and cost, an option you might consider is using asphalt grindings rather than crushed rock for a section of the road. We obtained grindings at approximately the same cost as top rock, and the dust reduction was amazingly good.

 

[tarsandman]

The US army has an excellent technical manual entitled "Dust Control for Roads, Airfields and Adhacent Areas" found at

http://www.usace.army.mil/inet/usace-docs/armytm/

The manual includes section on environmental concerns and "other" factors for consideration. I found it very usefull in determining a dust supressant for our company landing strip.

 

[PBroad]

In my area the only approved chemical is calcium chloride, oil has been banned for several years (especially when people began dumping PCB oil from transformers), Likewise lignon sulfonate is a biproduct of chlorination and thus contains dioxines. Tarsandman has the best source the US military. Speed control and grit size are your best bet if no chemicals are allowed, but don't go coarser than 3/8" or you'll get no end of tyre damage. Granutated smelter slag is also good, and if you have snakes in your area you can rest assured they'll never cross the road, which is why its so popular in Africa.

 

[eschwarzrock]

Calcium Chloride in liquid form, truck applied. Scott Paper Co. used it in Maine at least until the early 1990's with much success. You would probably need to top the gravel with sand first in order for the CaCl to hold onto something, but Scott had no problems whatsoever running lots of logging trucks out of the woods on it. No pumping, no rutting, just a very hard and durable road. So hard you could drop a plow on them in winter and clear them.

 

[Grader]

USC Marine Studies Center at Catalina Island is now using an environmentally friendly, non hazardous product for dust control and road stabilization called T-NAPS. The best non-toxic solution of all is plain water applied with a water truck or delivered through a piped system. Repeated, long term use of calcium chloride may harm adjacent vegetation.
Lignin products are highly soluble and will leach during heavy precipitation. Runoff into the surface or groundwater system may create low disolved oxygen conditions resulting in fish kills or increase concentrations of iron, sulfur compounds, and other pollutants. I have also used AC grindings for dust control. Keep in mind that this material still contains petroleum products.

 

[witchdoc]

Thanks to all that have replied. We are now trying (with good initial success) a thin application of river gravel to the surface. The round silica based stones are much harder and more durable than the crushed limestone. The bed of finely pulverized limestone on the surface has acted as a "grout" that keeps the rounded stones from rolling. Another 6 months service will tell us how durable this surface will be.

 

[dicksewerrat]

I think you will be pleased with the use of recycled asphalt. It spreads like rock and after a few trips over it, the trucks compact it to almost the same density as the original asphalt. Hot weather makes it start to reset as an asphalt.

 

[KRSServices]

I have a good deal of experience with various types of dust control systems. The applcation is key. Heavy truck versus light traffic, turning movements, the question of durability versus application cost and re-application of the product all play important roles. I would never spray oil on a road surface, but we have developed a specification for batching MC-250 or "flashed" sales oil (bitumen) with aggregate to make a very durable "coldmixed" surfacing. Ligno works well but has its limitations as does calcium. I am not a fac of calcium due to it's relative short lifecycle and it's breakdown when it gets wet. I have done numerous municipal, oilfield and light traffic roads in the past so let me know which application you have and I can lend my insight from there.

 

[witchdoc]

Our application involves 12 to 20 -- 88,000 pound loads per day. The space is tight, so there is a good bit of twisting and turning. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[KRSServices]

witchdoc,

I have found a material which you might be interested in. This product is evironmentally freindly, requires an abundance of fines in the aggregate and is incredibly easy to apply. I am working on a variation of this product for oilfield and heavier traffic rural roads here and will be utilizing as a stabilizer and surface application (2" to 3" thick) and dust suppressant secondly. I should have some costs and construction methodology soon. KRS Services

http://www.krs-services.com

 

[timmc]

I had a very similar need a couple of years ago, on a military base and in some oil field applications -- both of these were environmental cleanup projects, so the concerns were similar--solutions were not real cheap, but certainly have potential to be the best solution for your situation.
I found a couple of suppliers of products for this, these are my notes from then:

Soil Stabilization Products Company Inc., Merced, CA

http://www.sspco.com

Several dust control / road surface stabilization products include:
Road Oyl -- non-oil based resin modified emulsion goes on roadway surface to reduce dust.
EMC Squared -- concentrated lizuid stabilizer. Mix with water, spray from water truck
.......
Midwest Industrial Supply Inc.

http://www.midwestind.com/

Main office (800)321-0699 or (330)456-3121
Several dust control and soil stabilization products include:
Soil~Sement mixes with water, apply with water truck then roll, will tighten up road surface