Using Co-polymers to Improve Soil Strength and Mitigate Fugitive Dust Emissions: Laboratory Evaluation

¹ Department of Civil Engineering, Construction Management, and Environmental Engineering, Northern Arizona University, PO Box 15600, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
² College of Safety Science and Engineering, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710054, China
³ School of Resource Environment and Safety engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China

^* Corresponding author: chun-hsing.ho@nau.edu

Abstract

A report by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in the USA stated that there are over 1.4 million miles (2.3 million kilometres) of unpaved roads in the United States, over 1/3 of the U.S highway systems. Unpaved roads play an important role in transporting goods and passengers in between urban and suburban areas. However, most unpaved roads are gravel and unimproved that have exposed a severe issue for local transportation networks. Particularly when unpaved roads are in wet conditions (rain or snow), the muddy and soft surface roads have created a hazardous environment for traffic operations. The paper presents an improvement plan using co-polymer dust suppressants to be mixed with soils collected in Northern Arizona. Soil samples were mixed with the co-polymer dust suppressants using four concentration rates (0% water, 1%, 3%, and 5% by weight). A series of tests were performed including surface strength (resistant penetration) test, dynamic rolling test, and unconfined compressive shear test. The results show that the addition of co-polymer dust suppressants in the soil has improved the soil shear strength and decreased dust emissions, provided the results from the surface strength test, dynamic rolling test, and unconfined compressive strength test are promising.