Temporary Road over Dirt Surface 2

[LinH]

I heard there is a kind of material (liquid), which can be poured over dirt, and then firms up to become a temporary road. I am looking for this kind of material, which is both low in cost and can support truck weights of approximately 15 - 25 tons.

I would appreciate if anyone knows the name of this type of material and who is the manufacturer of it?

 

[Ron]

The term "snake oil" comes to mind. To my knowledge, there are no technically feasible liquid treatments that will give adequate capacity to a soil to allow the kind of traffic you mention for any length of time. Depending upon the stability of the soil, you can make the road serviceable by just re-grading periodically. Otherwise, you can mix gravel into the soil, add portland cement to the soil and mix it in, or add asphalt emulsion along with some gravel into the soil to achieve a stronger near-surface layer for traffic.

 

[IRstuff]

Have you looked at this site?

http://www.enviroseal.com/products.htm

TTFN

 

[LinH]

Thanks a lot Ron; that's very helpful.

Could you provide more detail about "snake oil", where I can find more info and manufacture about it?

Thanks again
Lin

 

[IRstuff]

I think "snake oil" is a reference to snake oil salesmen of the old American West, that sold various concoctions of dubious origins to unsuspecting customers.

http://www.enviroseal.com/products.htm

seems pretty real, but obviously, you'll need to investigate as required.

TTFN

 

[Ron]

LinH/IRstuff....EnviroSeal is a variation on the asphalt emulsion theme noted above. The material is an acrylic polymer that can be added to soil to stabilize. Its recommended minimum depth of mixing is 25cm (10 inches), which is a bit more than would be required of asphalt emulsion or soil cement. If I recall correctly, my last encounter with this material showed it to be more expensive than other conventional methods. It is also water soluble, so if you are in an area where high moisture contents exist or you have a high water table, this could present a problem.

 

[LinH]

Ron, IRStuff,

Thanks very much for the information, that really helps!

Lin

 

[LinH]

What different kinds of road marker (the separator lines drawn on the road) besides using paint?

Is there any like "tape" material can be used?

What's the difference between them (pros and cons).

Thanks!

 

[Ron]

LinH...unless the road surface is actually paved with asphaltic concrete or portland cement concrete, don't bother trying to stripe it.

There are three common methods of striping...
1-conventional paint, using a traffic resistant paint (least expensive method)
2-thermoplastic paint, a thermoplastic "paint" that is melted and sprayed onto the surface (usually used for highways)
3-thermoplastic/thermosetting tape and pre-formed features that are put into place then heated to bond to surface.

Ron

 

[snafuman]

I have seen a research paper done by the feds on a number of soil stabilizers for trails. Most of these had fairly poor performance. The best in there report was a product called Road Oyl. We tried to specify it and bid it for a project. The manufacturer's application procedures had the contractors so scared off that their bids were higher priced than concrete sidewalk. We ended up re-bidding that project with concrete sidewalks.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.