Road Management Services

Dust-A-Side’s haul road management process

Step 1: Manufacturing

At Dust-A-Side Australia, we have our own proven global supply chain and an incomparable logistics capability.

The key component of our road management service is DAS Product, a bespoke dust control product which was developed especially for the mining industry. It consists of a proprietary bitumen emulsion technology and can be established into the wearing course layer of new haul roads or used as a spay on treatment. DAS Product has been proven to control fugitive dust, as well as stabilise the wearing course layer on permanent haul roads at mining sites throughout the world.

It is manufactured right here in Australia under licence by our parent company – The COLAS Group, leveraging off of their global bitumen supply chain and unrivalled manufacturing expertise in the Australian market.The COLAS Group is a highly regarded global bitumen technology organisation with an emphasis on bitumen supply and associated technologies.

Important elements of our regional strategy include the investment in a new bitumen refinery located in Malaysia (capable of producing in excess of 1 million tonnes of bitumen per year) and a fleet of bitumen bulk carriers.

We produce more than 70M litres of speciality emulsions annually. Not only does this give us full control over ISO 9001:2008 quality, but it also allows us to:

• Minimise costs
• Guarantee continuity of supply
• Provide geographic redundancy

Following manufacture – in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne – we store DAS Product in sufficient quantities to establish and maintain mining industry haul roads.

Steps 2 & 3: Bulk Transportation & Storage

As part of our vertically integrated business model, Dust-A-Side Australia has developed a comprehensive in-house bulk transportation capability, to overcome the challenges of distances for large projects which are hundreds of kilometres from anywhere.

Our reliable new fleet can efficiently transport up to 90,000 litres of DAS Product per load from our manufacturing plants and strategically positioned storage depots to remote operations across the length and breadth of Australia.

It can be then stored in customised storage tanks onsite, so it’s right on hand and ready to use. Storing DAS Product in bulk at your facility saves you money on transport, plus there are no IBC’s, drums or other containers so there are economic and environmental benefits too.

Step 4: Road Preparation

Preparation it’s critical to effective haul road management. Prior to establishing new haul roads, we ensure that the foundations are all in order and that the road-base layers have been properly prepared and profiled to the highest possible standards.

This process involves:

1. Construction of the haul road sub-grade and sub-base layers to ensure that the road has sufficient underlying strength to support the weight of the loaded equipment that will be travelling along it.
2. Incorporation of adequate crossfall and super-elevation, as well as appropriate drainage
3. Development of a surface layer (base course)
4. Once the road has been properly prepared, the surface layer material will then be spilled into windrows on either side of the roadway.

Step 5: Road Establishment

Once the haul road has been expertly prepared, the road establishment process can commence. This is completed through one of two methods: road management or spray-on solution.

Road management

Our road management process is without peer. Refined since 1973, it has been proven to yield the most productive haul roads at the lowest life-cycle cost.

Stabilisation of the haul road provides an improved haul road running surface that will reduce the need to regularly grade and re-sheet roads, improve the rolling resistance for mobile equipment and thus improve cycle time efficiency.

DAS Product is initially established into the wearing course layer of the haul road to bind material and also provide a surface seal that significantly reduces wheel-generated dust and the ingress of water into the road-base. It is applied via a water cart and, for best results, a modified spray bar and nozzle system is incorporated onto the water cart.

The final trim grader operator mixes the product with the windrows using the grader, before capping the road surface with the mixed material. During the stabilisation process a roller is initially used for compaction, although heavy mobile machinery will provide optimum compaction upon completion of the road establishment process.

Spray-On Solution

In instances where road management is not desired, DAS Product is simply applied onto the surface of the road via a series of light dilutions.

The repeated application of the product and penetration properties of the formulation will lead to progressive build up of a bitumen sealed surface that binds surface material together and prevents water ingress.

Step 6: Maintenance

With roads established and maintained with a bitumen-based seal, they do not leach out during inclement weather and it is by far the easiest road binder material to repair. During the Maintenance Phase, repeat applications of diluted DAS Product are applied to maintain the integrity of the running surface, eliminate water ingress beneath the surface, and control dust.

Our unique maintenance system is designed to ensure that the on-going road quality is optimised and therefore the available benefits maximised. The maintenance system not only comprises the on-going application of product, but also the following proprietary processes as and when required:

• Sweeping (using specially designed mine haul road sweepers) to control dust, contamination and loose material on the pavement surface
• Skimming of the pavement surface with a grader or similar means to remove heavy contamination and loose material
• Re-scarifying of the running surface to maintain the integrity of the seal layer and retain adequate surface texture properties
• Pothole repair
• Repair of failed sections of road
• Repair of damaged sections of road