Australians are bracing for a wet, rainy remainder of the year and RST Solutions’ advanced technologies are helping mine sites and civil construction projects prepare for the wet weather ahead and minimise road closures and damage to infrastructure during this time.
With potentially destructive weather forecast for parts of Australia in coming months, RST Solutions is advising clients to step up their mitigation strategies to avoid large infrastructure and production loss future extreme wet weather events.
The team at RST Solutions has been working with site managers to help address the rising challenges and risks from ever-increasing frequency and magnitude of rainfall extremes, and with the next few months expected to be much wetter than recent years, mitigation measures are being prioritised to keep operations running as usual.
Total Ground Control soil binder is being used on roadworks to greatly reduce the potential for damage caused by extreme rainfall and flooding. By incorporating Total Ground Control into dust and erosion control programs, civil construction companies are finding increased stability of earthworks and protection against water erosion. This has resulted in less recovery work for construction teams after heavy rain.
Advanced technologies like Avenger, primarily used for dust suppression, are adding value by continuing to improve the structural quality of roads over time and after rain, helping keep roads open and safe for heavy traffic. Haul roads treated with Avenger have proven over time to demonstrate a cumulative effect as the material compacts more after each wetting and drying event, reducing permeability and increasing in strength.
“Instead of deteriorating over time or washing away, our dust suppressants work themselves down through the surface layers when it rains and this actually improves the road’s quality,” says RST Solutions Operations and Technical Director David Handel.
“When our products are being used they have a stabilising effect, tightening up the road surface structure through particle slippage and aggregation, which over time reduces roll resistance, road maintenance and road recovery after rain.
“By applying an additive like Avenger to the roads in dust control programs, the quality of roads improve in both the short and long term, reducing the requirements for road maintenance activities to treat both dust and erosion.
“The use of water carts will also decrease by up to 50% and haul road grading requirements can drop as much as 30%.
“Australia is gearing up for a wet season that could see quite a bit of flooding. We are assisting our clients to prepare for what may be a very wet summer.”
RST Solutions has a suite of high-performance customisable products that have been developed to target a range of issues and can be tailored to solve unique, site-specific needs, including factors such as materials being used, processes involved, local weather patterns, temperatures and land topography.
“Our haul road dust suppressants actually accelerate a haul road’s recovery time after rain events and works to improve running surfaces that require less maintenance,” Mr Handel said.
“High quality, rain resistant roads are achieved by reducing the permeability of the treated road surface [with products like] Avenger for the dewatering effect to separate water from the soil particles and enable the material to dry faster. Further compaction happens when the roads are being used… tyres press the water out of the mud and remove void spaces.
“As an application program becomes established and our product starts to build up the strength of the road surface, road monitoring and maintenance crews will observe a better road surface with faster recovery times after rain.”
RST Solutions customises its technologies in response to materials being used on site, adjusting the chemistry to target all types of soils from high plastic clays to very low plastic silt, significantly improving the whole road construction process, resulting in more durable, weather resistant haul roads that keep productivity at optimum.
Chemical formulations specifically developed by RST Solutions greatly improve the quality of bulk material being used. Moisture control increases throughout the construction process, with the material being more friable and less likely to clump, to provide faster compaction rates and improved pavement strength and densities.
RST Solutions specialises in solving complex fine particle issues and is currently working on a variety of infrastructure projects globally, supplying customised solutions adapted to each site’s specific factors such as materials being used, processes involved, local weather patterns, temperatures and land topography.
By taking into consideration a site’s application equipment and systems, as well as construction processes, RST Solutions tailors its advanced technologies to solve site-specific issues caused by all types of fine particle issues from dust to mud, silt to sediment. This expertise comes from three decades of experience gained from developing solutions for extensive fine particle challenges presented by numerous industries, processes and material types.
RST Solutions is an Australian business operating internationally, with presence and projects currently in the United States of America, China, India, Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Panama, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Indonesia, The Philippines, Malaysia, Croatia, Lithuania and Mongolia.