AIDC project number: 1711
David L. Barnes
Billy Connor
Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium
Dust control in many rural communities is becoming a priority. Since we have started research on controlling dust in rural regions we have truly engaged rural communities. Rural residents are seeing how controlling dust can reduce the negative environmental impact and improve their and their community’s quality of life. This research has been a collaborative effort with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (AKDOT&PF), the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), and the dust control palliative industry. As we worked with community leaders on controlling dust in their villages, we were often asked questions about which product should be used how much, and how often it should be applied. These are valid questions, all of which require evaluation and measurement procedures that are both accuracy and reliable. Unlike other surface stabilization methods used by the transportation industry (e.g. asphalt treatment, cement, etc. ) all of which have mature and widely accepted laboratory test methods that correlate to their field performance there are no field or laboratory testing procedures for determining the what type of, or how much, dust control palliatives should be used on any given unpaved or natural wearing surfaces. Hence, engineers and road managers are forced into a trial‐and‐error methodology or relying on personal judgement determining what they think would work best on their gravel roads or runways.
