PRODUCT RANKINGS OVER 3 ASSESSMENT PERIODS
(Ranked 1 - 6 with 1 being the best) |
| |
27/08/97 - Time of Construction |
5/11/1997 - Before Wet Season |
14/4/98 - After Wet Season |
| PRODUCT USED |
Dust Generation |
Surface Finish |
Pavement Condition |
Dust Generation |
Surface Finish |
Pavement Condition |
Dust Generation |
Surface Finish |
Pavement Condition |
| NONE - (Control) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
| DustMag |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Dustex |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| Reynolds RT20 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
| Claycrete I |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
| Claycrete II |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
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July - Dec 1993 (3 Products)
"Under traffic soon after spraying, the dust laying properties of the product were evident. After several days, it was apparent that binding of the surface had occurred. The product penetrated the pavement to a depth of approximately 25mm."
"Up to December 1993, the trial section performed extremely effectively. Virtually no dust was generated and loss of surface material was limited, with no maintenance grading required. During this period, the road was subject to unusually high volume of construction traffic which, under normal circumstances, would have created maintenance problems. ...it can confidently be concluded from this trial that DustMag is an effective short term treatment which may result in significantly reduced maintenance requirements for heavy traffic volume unsealed roads."
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Australian Road Research Board,
Special Report 54
"ROAD DUST CONTROL TECHNIQUES
Evaluation of Dust Suppressants' Performance"
October 1996 Summary (26 Products)
Highest Number of Users - More Road Authorities report using DustMag than any other product.
Highest Retention Rate - Customers are much more likely to continue using this type of product out of all the dust suppressant products trialed (105 respondents, 26 brands of products - 4 major categories).
Most Cost Effective - 80% of users consider the chloride-based dust treatments to be moderately cost-effective or better. (The next highest product category rating was only 53%!)
Longest Lasting - Chloride-based products last longer in actual practice than any other product category - a full 15% longer than the next best performing category. (DustMag comprised over 90% of the chloride product usage).
Easiest to Use - Customers who apply dust suppressants themselves rate magnesium chloride as the easiest to use. In the majority of cases application was included in the supply price of the magnesium chloride - a big cost saving and operational advantage over the next major category of dust suppressants where application was the biggest single source of reported problems.
Integrity of Supplier Information - Users of chloride-based suppressants believe that the information supplied by the suppressant supplier best matches product performance. The mean score of 7.1 compares to scores of only 5.2, 4.5 and 3.7 for the other major product categories.
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Oct 1991 to April 1992 (6 Products)
Magnesium Chloride (DustMag) - "Proved to be the accepted best performer. This was the standard and its general use is reflected in the 'first' rating due to its excellent dust abatement properties and longevity. This material is easy to work and maintain."
9 Months after Application - "The surface is still hard packed with very little loose gravel on the riding portion. The ride is good, there are a few small potholes and some washboard in the corners only. Light traffic is producing very little dust."
"This section was the poorest section before initial application, the magnesium chloride has maintained quite well."
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(4 Products)
| Mean Chemical Stabiliser Control Effectiveness After Two And Four Months |
| PRODUCT | % Control - 2 Months | PRODUCT | % Control - 4 Months |
| Magnesium Chloride-wet | 82% | Magnesium Chloride-wet | 66% |
| Nalco 655 | 69% | Magnesium Chloride-dry | 48% |
| Nalco 656 | 67% | Nalco 655 | 48% |
| Magnesium Chloride-dry | 65% | Nalco 656 | 47% |
| Lignosulfonate 4:1 | 61% | Lignosulfonate 4:1 | 44% |
| Lignosulfonate 8:1 | 57% | Lignosulfonate 8:1 | 38% |
| Coherex 9:1 | 54% | Coherex 9:1 | 38% |
| Coherex 12:1 | 43% | Coherex 12:1 | 31% |
|
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1993 & 1994 (3 Products plus Untreated Control Section)
"The aggregate loss from the Magnesium Chloride treated section was 5.18 mm ... the Untreated test section loss was 15.55 mm which is approximately 3 times more than that of the MgCl2 treated test section. The estimated Aggregate Loss/mile/year was 1,395.47 tons for the Untreated section and only 465.16 tons for the Magnesium Chloride treated section. These figures are based upon measured Average Daily Traffic (ADT) flows of 538 and 448, respectively."
Based upon the 4.5 month study period (average ambient temperature 31oC and 24% relative humidity) it was estimated that the untreated test section would require 8 periodic maintenances during the year while the treated test sections would require only 2 periodic maintenances. Using local maintenance costs (product and application cost & periodic maintenance & aggregate replacement) the Actual Total Cost/mile/year for the Magnesium Chloride treated section was US$9,208 while the Untreated section cost US$20,378.
Conclusions based upon results of this field-based research:
Dust measurement data indicate that there is a substantial reduction in fugitive dust emission with application of chemical dust suppressants (50-70% reduction).
Under high temperature and low relative humidity conditions, the lignosulfonate treated test section appears to produce less dust than the test sections treated with the chloride compounds during the test period. However, field observations after the research was completed showed that the lignosulfonate test section produced equal or more dust than the chloride compounds. The driving comfort on the lignosulfonate treated test section was also found to be considerably less than on the chloride treated test sections, mainly because of pothole formations on the lignosulfonate test section after the test period.
There is an estimated total aggregate loss of 1.0 ton/mile/year/vehicle from the lignosulfonate treated test section, 1.5 tons/mile/year/vehicle from the CaCl2 treated test section, 1.0 ton/mile/year/vehicle from the MgCl2 treated test section and 2.6 tons/mile/year/vehicle from the untreated test section. This translates into a 42-61% reduction in total aggregate loss when unpaved roads are treated.
Cost Analysis shows a 30-46% reduction in total annual maintenance cost for treated test sections over the untreated test section.
At ADT of over 120, the use of any of the dust suppressants evaluated proved to be cost effective. This is the traffic volume at which the economic feasibility of the use of dust suppressants will decrease (sic) as the cost of in place aggregate increases.
The minimum ADT at which the use of dust suppressants are economically feasible is variable depending on cost of aggregate in place.
'RAINSTORM' means 'DUST CONTROL'
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