News
May 14, 2018
Final Report for Development of Guidelines for Synthetic Fluid Dust Control Palliative Application is Available
The project, Development of Guidelines for Synthetic Fluid Dust Control Palliative Application, has published its final report. The production of dust from typical gravel roads without dust management can be immense. Under typical conditions, vehicle traffic on these roads can produce around 2400 kg/km (4.2 ton/mi) of fugitive dust during a 3-month summer. The large quantity of fugitive dust impacts communities on multiple levels. Application of chemical dust palliatives on gravel roads is a common method for controlling dust. Synthetic fluids are a relatively new category of dust palliatives. While gravel airport and road managers have been using this type of dust palliative for a number of years, engineering guidelines for the best use of this type of dust-control palliative do not exist. The objective of this study was to develop guidelines for the application and maintenance of synthetic fluid dust-control palliatives on unpaved roads. The study developed two field methods for determining the effectiveness of dust palliatives and a laboratory method for predicting the effectiveness of dust palliatives applied to any particular aggregate. Each method quantifies dust production from palliative treated aggregate. The guidelines presented in the final report were developed using results from these different tests.
