Manual On Gravel Roads
Manual On Gravel Roads
Manual On Gravel Roads
This document is one of several produced by the Local Highway Technical Assistance
Council, (LHTAC) in an attempt to assist the Local Highway Jurisdictions in managing
the local roads system. It is the intent that the document be applicable to City, County
and Highway District Jurisdictions equally regardless of size. It is hoped that the Local
Highway Jurisdictions will utilize this manual to help, on a statewide basis, to better
maintain gravel roads, through construction best practices, proper drainage,
adequate surface gravel and stabilization to reduce the amount of dust in our air. More
pressure begins to come to bear as the state becomes more urban and people feel the
need for clean air and better driving surfaces. If you already have a gravel road
maintenance and dust abatement program within your jurisdiction, please continue to
use that which you feel is the most appropriate. This manual is for your assistance in
developing a program or to modify your current program.
LHTAC
3330 Grace Street
Boise, Idaho 83703
In addition, we want to especially thank Mr. Jeff Dobson owner of Roadwise in Tacoma,
Washington. Mr. Dobson has participated within the state, helping to train the Local
Highway Jurisdictions’ personnel in the use of dust abatement materials and developing
the cost evaluation forms utilized in this manual.
LHTAC offers our special thanks to both of these gentlemen for their important input to
this document
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
FORWARD
2 Drainage
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 9
2.2 Ditches.................................................................................................... 9
2.3 Culverts and Small Bridge ...................................................................... 10
2.4 Drains ..................................................................................................... 14
3 Surface Gavel
3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 15
3.2 “Good” Gravel ......................................................................................... 15
3.3 Crushed Stone and Recycled Asphalt .................................................... 15
3.4 Material Testing ...................................................................................... 16
3.5 Securing “Good” Gravel .......................................................................... 17
3.6 Stockpiling Material ................................................................................ 18
3.7 Surface and Base Preparation................................................................ 18
3.8 Hauling and Spreading ........................................................................... 18
4 Dust Abatement
4.1 Why Worry about Managing Dust ........................................................... 20
4.2 How do we Pay for it ............................................................................... 20
4.3 Tort Liability ............................................................................................ 21
4.4 Deciding When To Use Dust Abatement ................................................ 22
A. Cost of Lost Material Verses Cost to Treat the Roadway …….…. 22
B. Other Cost Considerations ……………………………………..….. 30
4.5 What Material to Use…………………………………………………...….. 31
A. Dust Palliative Basics ……………………………………………..... 31
B. Suppressant Selection Tips ………………………………….…..... 32
C. Suppressant Application Tips …………………………………….... 32
D. General Application Tips …………………………………………..... 39
E. Water Application Tips ……………………………………………..... 40
F. Chloride Application Tips …………………………………………...... 40
G. Petroleum Application Tips ………………………………………… 40
H. Organic Non-Petroleum Application Tips ………………………… 40
I. Electro-Chemical Application Tips …………………………............. 40
J. Polymer Application Tips ……………………………..….…............. 40
K. Clay Additive Application Tips …………………………..…............. 40
L. Environmental Impacts …………………………………..…............. 41
SUMMARY…………………………………..….......................................................... 43
REFRENCES…………………………………..…....................................................... 44
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The State of Idaho has almost 28,000 miles of local roads, those not part
of the Federal or State highway or interstate system. About 12,000
centerline miles of those roads are paved, leaving almost 16,000 miles of
our local road network either unpaved, consisting of dirt, gravel, or a
treated gravel surface. Many of these roads will remain gravel far into the
future, as the explosive growth within the State remains in the urban
centers. Our local highway jurisdictions are responsible for maintaining
this network, with limited resources in many rural environments.
Understanding the needs of your roadway system, and improving your
gravel road maintenance strategy will allow you to better spend those
valuable tax dollars.
1
1.2 PROPER EQUIPMENT AND OPERATION
The moldboard directs where the aggregate and fine material of your
roadway will go. There are two components to moldboard operation: the
moldboard angle, what direction the blade is positioned and the
moldboard pitch, the tilt of the blade. The moldboard angle may be set in a
fixed position on older graders, or adjustable on newer models. The
primary angle for proper aggregate spread and recovery from the shoulder
is between 30 and 45 degrees. A lower angle will cause your aggregate to
fall off the primary road surface to the shoulder or into the ditch. A higher
angle will reduce the overall spread of aggregate across your moldboard,
leading to an uneven finished wearing surface on the roadway.
It is also important to know the difference between the heel and toe of the
moldboard. Much like a human foot, the heel of the moldboard is the
trailing “back” edge of the blade, with the toe being the leading “front”
edge. The toe will direct material displaced to the edge of the roadway and
move it back toward the heel to be spread evenly across the surface.
2
Once you have the attributes of your moldboard under control, you can
move on to the stability of your grader. A grader pivots “articulates” near
the center of the machine, allowing for more control of the moldboard and
a longer “reach”. This manual won’t go into all of the details of articulation,
but here are a few tips.
If your grader feels as though it is rocking back and forth, this may be due
to matching angles of the moldboard and rear axles. Adjusting the angle of
the moldboard can counteract this effect. As discussed above, if your
machine feels as though it is jumping up and down, you may need to
reduce speed to achieve better control. More modern graders come with
frame articulation. This allows the operator greater stability and a longer
reach with their moldboard. Frame articulation is effective for ditch clearing
and shouldering to clear debris and recover material.
3
Figure 2: Gravel road with poor crown and cross-slope, flat shoulders and inadequate drainage
As you can see from the wheelpaths, users are inadvertently widening the
road and further damaging the shoulder to avoid the soft saturated areas.
The ideal road crown would be uniform in shape, from the shoulder to the
peak at the center of the road. Over time, a road crown can become
parabolic, or more curved with a flat spot in the center. This typically
occurs due to excessive road wear from traffic, lack of maintenance, width
restrictions or the type of material composition of the roadway. Another
contributing factor can be equipment maintenance, more specifically
wearing of the moldboard. Over time, the factors mentioned above can
take their toll on a blade, leading to premature wear toward the heel edge.
This can be remedied by either reinforcing the moldboard or cutting off
uneven wear areas with a torch.
4
Figure 3: Well established gravel road with proper crown, shoulders and drainage
The shoulder should meet the edge of the lane at the same shape as the
roadway to provide stability and support. It should also not be too steep or
flat, as this may not only be a safety concern but could impede or
accelerate drainage from your roadway.
5
This material should not be considered lost, a good operator can recover
this material and spread it back across the roadway. Caution should be
used to ensure contaminated and unsuitable material is not spread back
across the roadway. Where practicable, this material should be cut from
the shoulder and/or ditch, loaded and hauled away. Proper maintenance
and surveillance of your road network prior to, during, and after storms
can help pinpoint problem areas.
Your roadway may encounter serious damage from winter travel and
maintenance, a major storm event, or significant loading from heavy
vehicles. In these instances, a major repair or reshaping of the roadway
may be necessary to reconstruct the optimal roadway structure and
shape.
6
emergency or disaster declaration, LHTAC may be able to provide
assistance to the local highway jurisdictions.
Almost anyone who has ever traveled a gravel road will complain about
“washboards”, and inevitably blame the grader operator. In reality, very
few instances of poor grader operation will lead to corrugations beyond
excess grader speed and poor roadway crown.
Beyond grader operation and vehicle traffic, poor gravel material on the
roadway may also be a contributing factor to corrugation. A proper
combination of aggregate, sand and fines is necessary to achieve a bond
and strong travel surface.
LHTAC recently teamed up with the University of Idaho and the National
Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology to develop a guide for
local highway jurisdictions to evaluate routes for trucks weighing up to
129,000 pounds. The guide is available on LHTAC’s website at this link:
https://lhtac.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/NIATT-Route-
Request-Guideprint.pdf.
7
Figure 4: NIATT guide cover and Gravel Road Assessment Flowchart (Source: Guide to Assist Local
Highway Jurisdictions in Evaluating Route Requests for Trucks Up to 129,000-Pounds)
8
SECTION 2: DRAINAGE
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 DITCHES
Ditches can come in many shapes, sizes and forms. The most common
are the v-ditch and the flat-bottomed ditch. A v-ditch is as the name
implies, a v-shape cut along the edge of the shoulder to contain and direct
9
water along the roadside. These ditches are commonly cut along hillsides
and perform best in areas with vegetation to reduce erosion.
New culvert installations should always be placed at the flow line of the
ditch to promote excellent drainage. Culverts or small structures should
cross your roadway at the natural low point and follow traditional drainage
paths. These pipes and structures need to be sized to appropriately
convey runoff and prevent overtopping of your road leading to erosion.
When installing a new culvert, there are several items to pay close
attention to. After excavation of the channel for the new pipe or structure,
adequate bedding material (typically gravel) needs to be placed and the
grade or slope verified for proper drainage. The pipe or structure can then
be set in place and backfilled in lifts of similar material to your pipe
bedding. This material should continue over the top of the structure at a
minimum of 1 foot depth or half of the diameter of the structure, whichever
is greater. It is very important to include adequate cover to prevent
crushing. The figure below demonstrates the proper installation of a new
culvert.
10
Figure 6: Example of proper culvert placement beneath a gravel roadway
11
Figure 8: Small bridge structure (span less tn 20’) on local gravel road
12
Figure 9: Example Small Structure Inventory Map for Prairie Highway District, (Source: LHTAC)
ITD manages the inventory and inspection of all larger bridges, greater
than 20 feet in length including condition assessment records. LHTAC
also has a graphic representation of these structures and associated
information on their website as well ( http://gis.lhtac.org/bridges/).
Figure 10: Recently constructed bridge (Greater than 20’ Span) KN13419: Westside Rd; Trout Creek
Bridge Boundary County, ID
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2.4 DRAINS
Many local roads are constructed over natural springs or wetland areas,
as it is not always feasible to route a road around these features. In these
instances, a geotextile fabric or underdrain system may be necessary to
separate these zones and help convey water out of the subgrade.
Typically, perforated pipe is used, placed in a bed of suitable drain rock
and the pipe wrapped in a geotextile fabric to prevent fine material from
clogging the system over time. Overall, this method is highly successful in
reducing saturated subgrade in roadways and can be installed by your
local maintenance crews.
This type of system may not perform well if the adjacent roadside ditches
have standing water or tend to backup in a storm event. In this case, a
more significant system may need to be designed and constructed.
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SECTION 3: SURFACE GRAVEL
3.1 INTRODUCTION
A quality surface gravel material can make or break a good gravel road. A
strong surface gravel material will consist of the right mixture of crushed
aggregate stone, sand, and fines. The aggregate provides strength,
supporting the heavy loads on your roadway. The sand will fill in the
spaces, or voids, between the aggregate and helps stabilize. Finally, a fine
material, typically a clay acts as the binder or glue to hold the matrix
together. When the appropriate amount of moisture is applied to this
combination, along with compaction, your road surface can closely mirror
that of a paved road. This combination is essential to develop the strong
bond necessary to create a long-lasting wear surface.
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3.4 MATERIAL TESTING
Once a sample has been taken, it is submitted to the laboratory for testing.
The laboratory will conduct a sieve analysis, basically a stack of screens
the sample is poured through and vibrated or shaken. This test will
determine the amount of course material that is retained or stays on the
individual screens, known as percent retained, and the fine material which
will pass all the way through to a pan at the bottom, known as percent
passing. This information is collected and summarized by the material
tester into a report, which is provided to the agency requesting the testing.
This level of quality control will ensure your material investment is secure,
and your material remains uniform. Below is an example from ITD’s
Standard Specifications of their gradation requirements for aggregate:
16
Figure 11: Gradation table for aggregate material (Source: ITD Standard Specifications For Highway
Construction, 2018)
Ultimately, there are two extremes you want to avoid; a road material
containing large aggregate and few fines, or a material primarily consisting
of fines with few aggregates. Either of these situations will lead to very
upset equipment operators and road superintendents. While large
aggregate would appear to be optimal for strength, it will lead to increased
maintenance costs for your equipment and a rough ride for the travelling
public. Too fine of material, and you will constantly blade the road and
never achieve a nice compacted surface. Use the information in this
manual to assist you in developing the specification to meet your local
needs.
17
Depending on the size of your local highway jurisdiction, you may have
access to your own material sources or require the purchase of these
materials from a local supplier. A reputable supplier will conduct business
with many entities in your region, and should be able to supply you with
high quality material to meet your needs. Many will have material testing
results readily available, and in the case of your own source, contracting a
material testing firm is a simple process. Independent testing and
sampling is highly recommended in either scenario to ensure a quality
product.
You have gone through the process of testing, procuring and either
hauling or having delivered your material. Now how do you stockpile this
material to ensure it continues to meet your needs for the future?
Over time, wind, rain and snow can all affect the uniformity of your
material. Fine material can be carried away by the wind during dry
weather, or be washed to the bottom of your pile by rain and snowmelt.
Proper observation and loading of this material is essential to ensuring a
uniform product when delivered to your road surface. Stockpiles need to
be worked starting from the end and working across the face to mix the
fines piled at the bottom with the exposed aggregate on the face of the
pile. Loading material from different sections of the pile will keep the
variability to a minimum.
Prior to delivering your “good” gravel to the site, some basic site
preparation should occur. Areas with poor drainage need to be addressed,
either clearing and grading of ditches, or the installation of new culverts
and drains. The surface of the existing road should be roughed up, also
known as “scarified” to help promote a good bond between the existing
and new material being placed and spread. The crown of the road may
need to be re-established, shoulders and ditches prepped and cleared,
and any undesirable material removed prior to introducing your new
gravel. These best practices will ensure the long-term investment in your
road both in material, and time and effort expended by your maintenance
crews.
The first question to ask prior to hauling any material to your worksite is
how much material do I need? This is often overlooked, or “eye-balled”
without much thought given to the time and expense associated with
hauling and placing material. A good rule of thumb with loose-material
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loads, expect 25-30% of your volume to be reduced once spread and
compacted on your roadway. In the case of a typical 10-12 cubic yard
dump truck, you will realistically only end up with 7-8 cubic yards of
material in place. Use this same thought process when calculating your
stockpile needs. You don’t want to come up short or long, especially if you
are hauling long distance. Take the time to sit down and come up with a
detailed estimate of your material prior to setting out to tackle a project.
It's time to deliver the material to your site, and you want to reduce the
effort necessary for your grader to properly spread and distribute this
material. Take the time to evenly dump your load, you may not have
access to a loader to clean up or redistribute an errantly placed pile of
gravel. The grader needs to be able to create a windrow or berm of
material to be evenly spread across the road surface. In Section 1 we
discussed the proper moldboard operation of your grader. The heel-toe
working of this material alogn the moldboard ensures one final mixing to
achieve the desired matrix. The final in-place compacted thickness should
target a minimum depth of material equal to or greater than two times the
aggregate diameter, a similar process used in determining asphalt lift
thickness. Finally, don’t forget to add moisture as needed prior to final
spreading and compaction.
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SECTION 4: DUST ABATEMENT
Besides being a loss of revenue from our local road system, the
Department of Environmental Quality for the State of Idaho, in their Idaho
Administrative Procedures Act 58.01.01, Section 650-651 of the Rules for
Control of Air Pollution, “requires that all reasonable precautions be taken
to prevent the generation of fugitive dust”. This relates to dust being a
nuisance for the public, however, the existence of dust in the air not
bothering the public is still a loss of material from our road system.
With these two issues to deal with, it seems sensible to manage the dust
from our roadway system in an economical and expedient manner.
For ease of definition of this manual, the terms; dust suppression, dust
abatement, dust palliative, and dust management all effectively mean the
same thing, in that we are trying to control the dust that is coming from
unpaved roads on the local highway system in Idaho. Dust palliatives or
suppressants are materials that are used to control the dust. Dust
abatement and dust management are merely procedures to utilize the
control measures dealing with dust.
When we really get down to the bottom line of who pays for the service,
we only have one source of funds, and that comes from the taxpayers.
The money may come to us in various forms, and under various fund
sources, but those sources were all driven by our local taxpayers, and
those are the people we are trying to serve.
There are a number of ways the Local Highway Jurisdictions provide dust
abatement materials to our unpaved roads. They range from the
Jurisdictions’ using their general budget to provide the money for
20
purchasing the materials, to requiring the property owners to pay for the
material that is placed on the road. We suggest somewhere in between.
You also might want to consider what to do in those cases where it would
be an extreme hardship for the property owner, particularly in a row of
houses, where one of the property owners could not afford to pay for the
material. The adjacent property owners might want to pay that share so
the roadway would be completely treated.
21
If your Jurisdiction receives a tort claim for dust damages, it should be
immediately referred by your attorney to the ICRMP representative or your
insurance agent for your Local Highway Jurisdiction.
Historically, the local elected officials have decided to use dust abatement
methods when the cry from the public became unbearable. Usually this
would mean shifting funds from another maintenance operation to buy
chemicals to complete the dust abatement. In some areas this is still the
case, however, many jurisdictions have decided to develop a dust
abatement policy.
22
Minimum Average Daily Traffic (ADT) at which use of dust suppressants is
economically feasible.
The following example calculates what the cost per mile is to maintain a
gravel road when we do not use some type of treatment but allow the dust
and surface material to leave the roadway.
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EXAMPLE
A. Cost per ton of road base at the pit X tons used per mile. It is assumed that
six (6) inches of material depth will be placed. Whichever amount you actually
use should be included in this calculation. The cost per ton should include the
material, all crushing costs, loading, supervision, and employee benefit cost for
the activity.
B. Cost per hour for belly or dump trucks X round trip hours X the loads per
mile. These numbers will vary depending upon your jurisdiction, and the size of
your equipment that you are using. The cost per hour should be those you have
calculated for the piece of equipment, or taken from Equipment Watch Rental
Rates. It will also depend on the distance from your gravel source to the road
being repaired.
C. Hours of grader usage per mile X cost per hour. Again, this would include
your equipment rental rates X the number of hours it takes for the grader to
process the new material.
D. Hours of water truck usage per mile X cost per hours. This is similar to the
grader costs and will depend on your specific equipment and time of use.
E. Hours of roller usage per mile X cost per hour. Again, similar to the above
two items. This will be unique to your situation.
24
H. The subtotal above cost per mile divided (÷) by the life expectancy of the
material (number of years). A general number for the number of years on
surface material would probably be 5-7 years. If your experience is longer for a
particular road, then use that number.
38,980 ÷ 5 = $7,790/yr
I. The subtotal of Line G times the current interest rate will give you the
interest cost, if you know what the interest is. This line item is not absolutely
necessary, but will give a more accurate cost of what the value of your money
actually is. We used zero for this example.
0 X 0 = $0
J. Grader usage more than once per year X the cost per hour for grader usage
X the hours per mile. This will depend upon the commitment you make to
maintain the road surface during the year. It could probably be anywhere from 5
to 10 times per year, and could take an hour and a half (1½) to truly process the
surface. This line is basically the maintenance per mile for this type of road.
K. This will be the total of items H-J, and will be in terms of dollars per mile.
TOTAL $8,915/mile
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Cost Evaluations - Untreated Road Form
A. Cost per ton of road base at the pit X tons used per mile.
B. Cost per hour for belly or dump trucks X round trip hours X the loads per
mile.
H. The subtotal above cost per mile divided (÷) by the life expectancy of the
material (number of years).
÷ = $ /yr
I. The sub total of Line G times the current interest rate will give you the
interest cost, if you know what the interest is.
X = $
J. Grader usage more than once per year X the cost per hour for grader usage
X the hours per mile.
times X $ /hr X /hr = $ /year
26
EXAMPLE
The following form can be used to determine the estimated costs for treating the road
with various chemical combinations. Those chemicals will be discussed in Section 4.5
of this manual.
The following form has been itemized, with discussion concerning each line item:
A. Width of road in feet X 5280 ft/mile ÷ 9 sf/sy X 0.5 gal/sy ÷ 184 gal/ton x
$50/ton = cost to treat one mile of road. As in previous discussions, the cost
will depend upon your location and the freight to get the various materials to you.
26’ wide x 5280 ft/mile ÷ 9 sf/sy x 0.5 gal/sy ÷ 184 gal/ton x $50.00/ton = $2,072/mile
B. Minus cost of equipment maintenance. This line could be, for instance, the
reduction in the amount of maintenance you will have to do to the road because
you have treated it. Experience has shown that if a treatment is performed
properly, and the road has the correct cross-section, it will not require
maintenance for as much as six (6) months.
- $100/mile
D. Cost per mile for an untreated road – the cost per mile for a treated road =
the savings to treat. This is the cost evaluation for untreated roads which have
been discussed on the previous forms. Line item C on this form will give you the
saving or the difference in cost per mile, for either treating or not treating the
roads. If line item K, on the previous form, is less than this line item C, then it is
not cost effective to treat the roads. On the other hand, if C is less than K then
the savings will be shown on this line.
A blank form is immediately behind this page. Remember in all of this road
maintenance that proper road preparation is necessary, including the proper crown.
REMEMBER: “potholes will not form where water will not stand”.
27
Cost Evaluation for Treating the Roadway Form
The following form can be used to determine the estimated costs for treating the road
with various chemical combinations. Those chemicals will be discussed in the Material
Section of this manual.
The following form has been itemized with the following discussion concerning each line
item:
A. Width of road in feet X 5280 ft/mile ÷ 9 sf/sy X 0.5 gal/sy ÷ 184 gal/ton x
$50/ton = cost to treat one mile of road.
D. Cost per mile for an untreated road – the cost per mile for a treated road =
the savings to treat
- =$ /mile
Cost to not treat Cost to treat Savings to treat
A case study was performed by the Lakes Highway District to analyze the
costs associated with gravel road maintenance. Using a similar approach
to the examples provided above, they analyzed the costs of an untreated
gravel road versus a treated gravel road. The results are shown in Table 2
below:
28
Table 2: Case study cost comparison of treated vs. untreated roads (Source: FHWA Unpaved Road Dust
Management, 2013)
29
B. OTHER COST CONSIDERATIONS:
It is known that dust can cause problems with the lungs of both humans
and animals, and when ingested over a long period of time can be fatal.
Suggested reasonable precautions include surfacing the roadbed with
asphalt, oil, the application of water, or other environmentally safe
chemical dust suppressants when needed for the drier seasons when
fugitive dust is most likely to be generated. Regularly scheduled
maintenance, and posted speed limits are additional precautions to reduce
fugitive dust. As mentioned in Section 4.3 of this manual, tort claims are
possible, and Local Highway Jurisdictions should do their part to mitigate
dust where practicable.
Finally, dust palliatives or dust treatments will generally also stabilize the
roadbed, which in effect reduces runoff. The total maximum daily loading,
(TMDL) presently being calculated for all drainage in the State of Idaho,
will have limits on the amount of silt that can enter the streams from our
roadways. Stabilizing those surfaces with various treatments will help to
eliminate or at least reduce the siltation from our roadbeds, and help us to
comply with the drainage basin criteria.
In addition to the basic cost calculations, the above discussion can assist
you in making the decision to take a proactive stance in the management
of the dust from local roads. Concerns for air quality and stream pollution
is not likely to go away until major changes are made in the quality of both.
A dust abatement program can help make those changes throughout the
State of Idaho.
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4.5 WHAT MATERIAL TO USE
• Water
• Water Absorbing Products (deliquescent/hydroscopic)
- calcium chloride brine and flakes
- magnesium chloride brine
- sodium chloride (salt)
• Organic Petroleum Products
- asphalt emulsions
- cutback asphalt (liquid asphalt)
- dust oils
- modified asphalt emulsions
• Organic Non-Petroleum Products
- animal fats
- lignosulfonate
- molasses/sugar beet
- tall oil emulsions
- vegetable oils
• Electro-Chemical Products
- enzymes
- lonic products
- sulfonated oils
• Synthetic Polymer Products
- polyvinyl acetate
- vinyl acrylic
• Clay Additives
- entonite
- montmorillonite
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B. SUPPRESSANT SELECTION TIPS
• High traffic volumes with high speeds and larger percentage of truck
traffic
• Low humidity conditions, especially when using calcium chloride
• Low fines content in surface, typically when there is less than 10
percent passing the 75 µm (No. 200) sieve
• Poorly bladed surface and/or loose wearing surface.
32
Road Dust Suppressants
33
Table 3 - Road Dust Suppressants (continued)
34
Table 3 - Road Dust Suppressants (continued)
35
Table 3 - Road Dust Suppressants (continued)
36
Table 3 - Road Dust Suppressants (continued)
37
Product Selection Chart
Traffic Volumes, Average Daily
Traffic Surface Material Climate During Traffic
Plasticity Index Fines (Passing 75 µm, No.200, Sieve)
Medium Heavy, Wet
Light, 100 to >250 &/or Damp Dry
Dust Palliative <100 250 (1) <3 3-8 >8 <5 5-10 10-20 20-30 >30 Rainy to Dry (2)
Calcium A A B C B A C B A B C C A C
Chloride (3) (3,4)
Magnesium A A B C B A C B A B C (3) C (3,4) A B
Chloride
Petroleum B B B A B C B B B C C B A B
(5) (6) (3)
Lignin A A B C B A C B A A B C A A
(6) (3,6) (4)
Tall Oil A B C A B C C B A (6) B C B A A
(6)
Vegetable Oils B C C B B B C B B C C C B B
Electro- A B B C B A C B A A A B B B
Chemical (3,4)
Synthetic A B C A B C C A A (6) C C B A A
Polymers
Clay Additives A B C A A B A B B C C C b A
(6) (3)
Table 4: Product Selection Chart
Legend
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D. GENERAL APPLICATION TIPS
Application tips that apply to all liquid dust suppressant products include:
39
E. WATER APPLICATION TIPS
Soil type and density greatly affect the rate and amount of penetration. In
all instances, it is desirable to attain a 12 to 25 mm (1/2 to 1 inch)
penetration. Most products (with the exception of SS- and CSS-1) will
penetrate and coat most soils if they have been loosened by scarification.
For surfaces which have not been scarified; only those products with low
viscosities will penetrate.
Ensure that the clay and associated water used for compaction is
uniformly distributed throughout the surface material. Requires a
minimum of 8 passes with a motor-grader or use of a cross-shaft rotary
mixer.
40
acceptable levels. These subsequent applications may be lighter than the
initial application.
L. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
41
There are no standard tests for measuring how dust palliatives impact the
plant community; however, some tests have been performed that simply
observe the impact on plant life.
Evaluations of any of the other dust palliatives have not been made. If
there is a concern regarding the impact of a dust palliative on the
environment, then as a minimum, the LC50 and BOD tests should be
performed. Results can then be used to estimate the potential impact of
the dust palliative in question on the local aquatic and plant communities.
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SUMMARY
A well graded “good” gravel material is the topping to the roadway section
you have established. Adequate material testing is necessary to ensure
the gravel product meets the desired needs of the local highway
jurisdiction. The proper quantity, mixture, placement and compaction of
the material will ensure a long-lasting road section. The costs associated
with this additional effort can be offset by the reduced maintenance load
on your roadway network.
Dust suppression and pallative treatments are important to both the health
and well-being of our surrounding environment, but also play an important
part in retaining the fine particles that bind our road surfaces. These
treatments should be evaluated based on need, cost and impact to the
surrounding property owners and the motoring public.
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Addo, J., Sanders, T. Effectiveness and Environmental Impact of Road Dust Suppressants,
Mountain-Plains Consortium, Colorado State University, MPC Report No. 92-28A, March 1995.
Bolander, P., Chemical Additives for Dust Control - What We Have Used and What We Have
Learned, Transportation Research Board, Transportation Research Record No. 1589,
Washington D.C., August 1997.
Bolander, P., Laboratory Testing of Nontraditional Additives for Dust Abatement and
Stabilization of Roads and Trails, Transportation Research Board, Proceedings from the
Seventh International Conference on Low-Volume Roads, Washington D.C., May, 1999.
C.H. PITT, U of Utah, Results Of Corrosion Tests Performed On Steel Samples In Magnesium
Chloride and Various Chemical Solutions.
Foley G., S. Cropley, and G. Giummarra, Road Dust Control Techniques - Evaluation of
Chemical Dust Suppressants’ Performance, ARRB Transport Research Ltd., Special Report 54,
Victoria, Australia, October 1996.
Giummarra, G., G. Foley, and S Cropley, Dust Control - Australian Experiences with Various
Chemical Additives, Transportation Research Board, Transportation Research Record No.
1589, Washington D.C., August 1997.
Han, C., Dust Control on Unpaved Roads, Minnesota Local Roads Research Board (LRRB),
Report No. MN/RC-92/07, March 1992.
Heffner, K., Water Quality Effects of Three Dust-Abatement Compounds, USDA-Forest Service
Engineering Field Notes, Volume 29, January-April 1997.
Ibrahim, A., Nielsen, R., Abdel-Rahim, A., Saras, N., Larrea, M., Guide to Assist Idaho Local
Highway Jurisdictions in Evaluating Route Requests for Trucks Up to 129,000-pounds, National
Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology (NIATT), December 2016.
Langdon, B., G. Hicks, R. Williamson, A Guide for Selecting and Using Dust Palliatives,
Transportation Research Institute, Civil Engineering Department, Oregon State University,
Research Report 80-13, December 1980.
Schwendeman, T., Dust Control Study - Part 2 - Dust Palliative Evaluation, USDA-Forest
Service, Gallatin National Forest, September 1981.
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UMA Engineering Ltd., Guidelines for Cost Effective Use and Application of Dust Palliatives,
Roads and Transportation Association of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, 1987.
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