Water seems to be widely used by quarries to control dust on their haul roads. However, using water by itself may prove to be very temporary, inefficient and in many cases, futile. A more efficient approach is to use Earthbind® 100.

There are various ways Earthbind® 100 can be used to manage fugitive dust on an active quarry haul road. A common method consists of applying Earthbind® in two phases, generally referred to as the “base course phase” and the “maintenance phase.”

Base Course Phase

The base course phase is first established. The base course phase consists of applying a topical application of a moderately-diluted solution of Earthbind to the surface of the haul road using a water truck.

The objective of the base course phase is to apply enough of the Earthbind to “bind up the fines” that are already present on the surface of the road, which is the main source of the fugitive dust.

The application for the base course phase is the same as when watering the haul road for dust control except there is a small amount of Earthbind added to it instead of just using plain water.

The base course phase can be accomplished by a few repetitive applications of the water truck with the amendment of Earthbind over a relatively short time frame. The time frame may be over a 1- to 7-day period.

The time frame required to build up the base course depends on how concentrated the Earthbind solution is used as well as the number of applications required to build-up the product residual. The goal is to apply enough solution so that the Earthbind residual is around 0.10-gallons per square yard of road surface.

Once the base course phase has been established, the haul road should be fairly free of fugitive dust. Afterward, a maintenance phase should be implemented to maintain dust control to acceptable levels.

A maintenance phase is important due to the nature of active quarry haul roads since new dusty material is constantly being dragged on by the mining equipment or falling off the dump trucks and getting ground up under traffic and creating “new” dust. (For example, even if the haul roads were paved, the surface would get dusty from the quarry activities in a short time period.)

The Maintenance Phase

For the maintenance phase, a weaker solution of Earthbind than what was used originally in the base course phase can be used. For example, the dilution ratio can be as heavy as a 12:1 dilution or as light as a 40:1 dilution. This solution is then periodically (i.e., once a week, once every two weeks, etc.) applied to the surface of the road using a water truck (as in the base coarse phase) to control the “new” dust that is continuously formed.

The maintenance applications are necessary to control dust generated by track-on, blow-on or spill-on dust (material dropping from haul trucks) to acceptable levels. Naturally, the maintenance application dilution rate would need to be stronger when a significant amount of new dust is generated between applications, while lighter dilutions can be used when only a little new dust is produced. The schedule of the maintenance applications can also be varied. Typically, more maintenance applications may be required when significant new dust is generated.

The use of Earthbind 100 is a very viable and cost-effective alternative to the current, popular outdated method of using water to control fugitive dust on active quarry haul roads.

Using Earthbind 100 for dust control will save the quarry money due to the reduced need for all the man-hours, fuel and equipment costs involved just by keeping the fugitive dust to manageable levels when using water.

For more information on controlling dust on quarry roads, please contact an EnviRoad representative. We will be glad to customize a site-specific procedure for your quarry.