Municipalities & Public Roads

Dust emissions from unpaved roads can impair the vision of drivers and therefore, be a safety hazard. From a road agency perspective, the loss of fine particles from unpaved roads can also reduce surface longevity and increase maintenance costs. Inhaling fine dust particles can be a health hazard to road users and residents. Dust can also be a nuisance and have environmental and economic implications like reduced crop yields and cleaning expenses to those residents who live along unpaved roads. 

ABCDust which offers smart and sustainable dust control and soil stabilization solutions for many industries have developed a combination of sustainable solutions capable of reducing dust by up to 98%.  

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Benefits of Dust control and soil stabilization

Dust from unpaved roads can cause many impacts that may be reduced with dust control.

  • Health: Fine dust particles may become a health hazard when inhaled, aggravating existing respiratory and cardiovascular health problems. Furthermore, airborne particles facilitate the propagation of virus and bacteria toward other living beings.
  • Safety: Untreated roads may contribute to increased frequency and severity of motor collisions. Accident potential is increased due to loss of visibility and less traction due to lose gravel. About 2.3 times more people are killed per vehicle mile of travel on unpaved than paved roads in the United States (Hoover, 1971).
  • Vegetation: Large amounts of dust may stress vegetation due to increased heat absorption and decreased transpiration.
  • Aquatic resources: High levels of dust falling into aquatic systems may adversely affect aquatic plants and fish that are not adapted to high levels of sedimentation.
  • Aesthetics cleaning, property values: Dust produces an immediate visual impact that may affect residents who live near dust prone roads. For people living along these roads, dust can mean grimy houses, gray laundry, and dust covering everything.
  • Vehicle damage: Loss of fines will lead to lose aggregate on the road surface that can damage windshields. Dust will also clog filters and increase abrasion of moving parts.
  • Road maintenance costs: Treated roads can lower road maintenance costs by reducing gravel loss and blading time. A private sector suppressant supplier estimated in 1993 that the average untreated road loses 300 tons of aggregate per mile per year.
  • Legal requirements: In the Canadian National Ambient Air Quality Guideline, measured as total suspended particulate (TSP), the standards for dust over 24 hours are 120 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m3 ), and averaged over a year are 60 μg/m3 . Some provinces have more stringent criteria (2005). A dust control program will help your roads achieve this criterion.

Problems with traditional dust control products

Although there are many advantages to using dust control products, there are also few disadvantages, which are primarily environmental in nature. In facts, traditional dust control products have a range of side effects that have a negative impact on the environment, such as the use of chloride-based road salts, which are highly corrosive, cause rust on vehicles and machinery and can be harmful to roadside vegetation.

  • Chloride salts will dissolve in water and can be washed out of the road during rainfall. This brine can migrate and negatively affect nearby vegetation and aquatic species. It can also cause vehicle corrosion and their use near airports should be discouraged. As well, chloride salts attract fauna to the roads, which increase the risk of collusion with native animals.
  • Hygroscopic salts used in a gravel/hard surface transition may track onto the hard surface and make the pavement very slippery under certain conditions.
  • Toxic hydrocarbons from petroleum-based suppressants can leach out and negatively impact water bodies.
  • Lignosulphonates applied to roads will dissolve in water. When this happens, the lignosulphonates, because they are organic, will gradually decompose, consuming the oxygen dissolved in the water. This may have negative impacts on aquatic life.
  • Roads treated with chlorides and oils-based dust suppressants can be slippery when wet, particularly during a heavy downpour. Furthermore, some dust suppressants form a hard surface layer crust and can be difficult to rework during maintenance.

Enjoy the benefits without the drawbacks

ABCDUST products are made with environmentally friendly inputs that have no adverse effect on the environment. Our solutions have been designed to withstand heavy traffic, such as on mining haul roads, while also being cost-effective for suppressing dust on secondary roads for counties and municipalities with limited road maintenance budgets.

  • Reduce dust levels up to 95-98% of dust
  • Preserve the environment
  • Improve rolling resistance, reducing fuel consumption
  • Reduce your road maintenance costs
  • Improve the strength of your roads and its uniformity
  • Improve road braking
  • Improve safety and visibility
  • Prevent dust-related illness and make resident happier
  • Non-ionic, non-toxic and noncorrosive product
  • Transparent when dried
  • Water and UV resistance

Recommended solutions

  • DMS-DS 100
  • DMS-DS 90
  • DMS-80
  • ChemStab
  • Ezzis Pro
For more information, schedule a call

Source: Federation of Canadian Municipalities. (2005). Dust Control for Unpaved Roads. https://fcm.ca/sites/default/files/documents/resources/guide/infraguide-dust-control-unpaved-roads-mamp.pdf