Controlling dust on mining and forestry roads

Coming into the hotter and drier summer months, dust is again becoming a problem for contractors and site managers in the natural resources sector.

Dirt roads are common across all types forestry, logging, mining and quarry operations in Australia. Unpaved access roads provide an easy and low-cost way to reach remote areas on site, however, excess dust can be a real problem for contractors and business owners.

Aside from the serious health risks caused by dust in the workplace, including silica risk, the effects of hot, dry wind can cause dust to whip around your site. This, in turn, causes incremental erosion to roads, eventual damage to vehicles.

However, one of the most important considerations to manage is the negative environmental effects. Workplaces that emit excess dust are considered to be polluting the atmosphere and can be subject to scathing fines.

Dust that escapes from stockpiles and unpaved roads on site can produce a lot of dust which needs to be mitigated.

So what’s the best way to control dust on your mine site, quarry or forestry coupe? Here’s our top three tips.

Reduce vehicle speeds

Although it seems like reducing car and truck speeds will reduce efficiency, what you save in dust management will make a slightly reduced speed limit worth it.

Encouraging cars, trucks and work vehicles on site to slow down will help to reduce the amount of dust emitted from the friction of tyres on dirt roads. Even just a few kilometres per hour less will make a difference.

Managing wind and using windbreaks

Dust itself isn’t necessarily the issue on site – it’s when the dust is blown around by wind that air pollution problems arise.

On some very large, open sites, creating windbreaks is not possible, but for sites in more urban, hilly or forested areas, using natural windbreaks such as trees can help mitigate the effects of wind, and in turn, how much dust is produced on site.

Mining, forestry and quarry sites that don’t have the benefit of surrounding trees can use fence fabric to great effect. Printed fabric scrim that is fixed to the perimeter fence of your site can help to contain any dust that arises, making it less of an environmental issue. Even though fence fabric is made from a polyester mesh material, it goes a long way to containing dust within your site, as well as keeping debris and rubbish from escaping the area.

Fence mesh is also an ideal way to promote your business, brand or project, with customised printing available from Jaybro.

Using biodegradable dust suppression spray

Dust mitigation can also be achieved through wetting the topsoil of dirt roads. Although plain water can be used for this process, it doesn’t last long in hot dry conditions. The labour and plant required to run water trucks at your site over a 6 month project can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, so it makes good financial sense to reduce the application rate as much as possible.

To counter the fast evaporation of plain water, a biodegradable dust suppression spray can be used. This acts as a coagulant, binding the moisture to the soil particles to keep them in place.

Jaybro supplies the Road-X2 dust suppression spray, an environmentally friendly and non-corrosive engineered dust suppression agent. It controls dust by coating each soil particle without creating a crust on the surface.

Road-X2 is a much cleaner and safer alternative to traditional magnesium chloride based dust suppressant methods, meaning it is safe for humans, animals and vegetation. It is simply mixed with water and applied with any spraying equipment such as a water cart or truck. When applied correctly it can eliminate dust for up to 3 to 6 months at a time by coating and creating a barrier around individual soil particles.

The addition of water with Road-X2 assists with getting the agent deep into the surface to achieve the desired outcome. The amount of concentrate needed will depend on the amount of fine aggregate on the surface – coarse sand materials need a higher application compared to materials with a higher fines content.

Areas treated with Road-X2 can be reopened to traffic immediately, meaning you can get on with your project without access being hampered or roads being closed.

Road-X2 is available as a 1000 litre IBC, ideal for application to long lengths of dirt roads in mining, quarry and forestry operations.

To find out more about Road-X2 dust suppression spray contact our team today.

Get a quote on dust suppressant spray

For more information on dust suppression products for your site or to get a fast quote, get in touch with us.