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6 EVALUATION OF MAGNESIUM CHLORIDE (BISCHOFITE)
7 FOR SURFACE STABILIZATION AND DUST CONTROL ON
8 UNPAVED ROADS
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10
11
12 Authors:
13
14 Marcelo Bustos
15 Corresponding Author
16 Assistant Professor (e-mail: mbustos@eicam.unsj.edu.ar)
17
18 Oscar Cordo
19 Titular Professor (e-mail: ocordo@eicam.unsj.edu.ar)
20
21 Pablo Girardi
22 Research Engineer (e-mail: pgirardi@eicam.unsj.edu.ar)
23
24 Miguel Pereyra
25 Research Engineer (e-mail: mpereyra@eicam.unsj.edu.ar)
26
27
28 Escuela de Ingeniería de Caminos de Montaña,
29 Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Argentina
30 Address: Av. Libertador San Martín 1109 (oeste), San Juan (5400), Argentina
31 Phone: 54-264-4272439 / Fax: 54-264-4228666
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35 Re-submission date: Novembre 28th, 2014
36
37
38 Word Count: 6864 = 4614 + 250 x 9 (tables and figures)
39
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41 Key words: Magnesium Chloride - Bischofite – Unpaved Roads –Maintenance – Dust
42 Control
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45
46 ABSTRACT
47
48 Gravel roads are an important portion of the road network in Western Argentina, and their
49 maintenance requires a huge amount of economic and human resources. Recently, the use of
50 alternative treatments based on the application of mineral salts, like the hydrous magnesium
51 chloride, also known as “Bischofite”, has been introduced in this region. Such treatments are
52 currently being applied for dust control and surface stabilization in unpaved roads.
53
54 This paper presents the main results obtained during a research project carried out by the
55 National University of San Juan, Argentina, together with local road agencies and companies.
56 Selected test sections of gravel roads were treated with bischofite in two different ways of
57 application. Along 18 months, measurements of surface roughness and dust emission were
58 accomplished on those sections, using specific instruments.
59
60 The main results showed that the use of bischofite contributed to achieve a notorious
61 reduction in roughness evolution and dust emission, compared against untreated gravel
62 sections. It seems to be more convenient not only for the environment, but also for road
63 agencies and road users, due to important cost savings, as it was verified through economic
64 assessments performed to compare between treated and untreated gravel road sections.
65
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 3

66 INTRODUCTION
67
68 In a regional road network, unpaved roads are usually a very important portion,
69 contributing to connect rural areas with main cities, helping to develop local economies and
70 improving life quality of rural populations. But to achieve such benefits, these roads need
71 continuous maintenance. In order to preserve an acceptable serviceability level, road agencies
72 usually apply traditional works of maintenance such as periodical surface humidification, spot
73 patching, grading and compaction, and surface re-gravelling. Such tasks require a huge
74 amount of expenditures in terms of machineries, personnel and materials.
75 Looking for an alternative to reduce costs and resource consumption, many chemical
76 and organic products are being tested and used as surface stabilizers in such type of roads.
77 These products contribute to maintain the surface of an unpaved road in good condition for
78 longer time. In this paper, a specific research performed in the province of San Juan,
79 Argentina, to evaluate the advantages and convenience of using the chemical product named
80 Bischofite for such purposes, is described as follows.
81
82 LITERATURE REVIEW
83
84 A brief description of the problems of unpaved roads maintenance in San Juan during
85 summer, and a discussion about some alternatives to overcome that situation using chemical
86 products as road stabilizers, are outlined as follows.
87
88 Problems of unpaved roads maintenance at regional level
89 The province of San Juan, located in Western region of Argentina, has a continental
90 climate with a dry and very warm summer season. The main problems of maintenance in
91 gravel roads appear during that part of the year. High temperatures and lack of rains reduces
92 humidity levels near to zero in the upper layers of unpaved road, weakening the cohesion
93 between fine and coarse particles. The abrasion produced by the vehicles finally breaks that
94 cohesion, and the smallest grains are expulsed from the surface layers in form of dust, falling
95 in lateral zones of roads, affecting agricultural production and people living in surrounding
96 areas.
97 Besides that, the deformation in the upper layers increases progressively as the fine
98 fraction disappears from the structure, and consequently strong increments in roughness and
99 potholes can be observed (1). Dust emission in unpaved roads is only the more visible
100 expression of an important underlying problem, which it is the surface progressive breakage
101 and deterioration, intimately related with low humidity levels.
102 Trying to reduce such problems, water is sprayed periodically over gravel surfaces by
103 tank trucks, but in summer season it evaporates almost immediately. In unpaved roads located
104 in populated areas, water irrigations are performed on a daily basis, but this frequency is not
105 the same for the rest of unpaved roads. Therefore, dust emission and surface deterioration are
106 remarkably accentuated in most of the regional unpaved roads during the summer, increasing
107 the need of machinery to improve surface condition of those roads. Availability of road
108 maintenance machinery during summer becomes a critical issue in this region.
109 In this region, also, there is a sensible increase of the productivity during summer,
110 both for agricultural and mining activities. For high-mountain mining, summer season is the
111 best time, without the frequent interruptions which are common during winter. Consequently,
112 traffic on unpaved roads also increases during the summer, adding more complications to the
113 problems previously described, and generating a huge bottleneck in maintenance tasks.
114
115
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116 Alternative solutions using chemical stabilization products (Bischofite)

117 To offer a suitable alternative for some of the problems cited before, the use of natural
118 products of chemical origin to stabilize surface gravel layers has been introduced during the
119 last years. One of these products, widely used in Chile for more than one decade, is a hydrous
120 magnesium chloride mineral with formula MgCl2-6H2O, also known by the popular name of
121 “Bischofite”, in honor of German geologist Gustav Bischof, although it was discovered by
122 Carl-Christian Ochsenius. It is a crystallized white mineral, greasy to tact due to its high
123 humidity content, and it has the following properties, for application in road uses:
124
125  Hygroscopy: Bischofite has an impressive capacity to absorb humidity from the
126 atmosphere, even in extremely arid zones.
127  Binder: It links fine particles, allowing consolidation of the unbounded surface layers.
128  Resistant to evaporation: It has a low steam tension, which preserves the absorbed
129 humidity.
130  Low freezing point: -32.8 ºC.
131  High solubility in water: It allows elaborating quickly a brine solution used to be
132 sprayed over (or mixed with) surface materials in unpaved roads.
133
134 In Latin America, the main production area is located in the Salt lake of Atacama
135 (Chile), where lithium chloride, potassium chloride and other residual products are also
136 extracted. Many research projects have been carried on looking for an optimized
137 methodology of application in roads, especially for the unpaved ones (2) (3) (4). Bischofite
138 can be also used on paved roads to prevent the icing-up on the road (“anti-icing”), either to
139 melt formed ice on surface pavement (“de-icing”), because it allows reducing the freezing
140 point of water to temperatures below -20 ºC.
141 For surface treatments in unpaved roads, bischofite is conventionally used under two
142 different forms of application (5):
143
144  Dust suppressor treatment: the gravel road must be previously prepared, moistened
145 and compacted, with a cross-sectional slope between 3.5% and 4% to allow enough
146 transversal drainage during rain. Gravel should have between 10 and 20% of fine
147 material below sieve ASTM #200, better if it has enough plasticity, in order to
148 improve cohesion, and at least 20% of granular material with size bigger than 10 mm,
149 to assure a minimum structural stability. The suppliers recommend specific limits of
150 gradation curves for the granular material to be used for upper layers. Then, a brine
151 solution of bischofite in water has to be prepared. The proportion of bischofite
152 dissolved on water needs to be around 1.5 to 1 in weight (e.g. 750 kg of bischofite and
153 500 lt of water), therefore the brine will have a density of 1.25 tn/m3. After that, at
154 least four consecutive irrigations of magnesium chloride brine must be sprayed on the
155 unpaved surface. It is recommended to apply 4 l/m2, but this dose can vary
156 considering road geometry, future traffic and also plastic fines proportion. In this way,
157 a durable superficial scab is finally obtained, and it almost completely reduces the
158 dust emission caused by traffic, improving sensibly the environmental conditions in
159 the surrounding zone. This type of treatment usually lasts between 3 to 6 months
160 before needing additional applications of bischofite brine to preserve good conditions
161 in the surface and prevent the increase of dust emission.
162
163  Surface stabilizer: in this case, the brine should directly be added during the
164 preparation phase, as part of the water required to moisten the gravel. Therefore, there
165 is an intimate mix between the granular material and the bischofite, gaining cohesion
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 5

166 and obtaining a compacted and more durable upper layer. The thickness of that layer
167 should range between 5 and 15 cm. The treated layer can even have a lower thickness,
168 to reduce initial costs, but it also requires more maintenance in the future. The
169 granular material would fulfill specific conditions in particle size and bearing
170 capacity, to assure good performance and low amount of surface deformation (5). The
171 dose of bischofite varies between 3 and 5% in weight of dry gravel, depending on the
172 degree of plasticity of the fine portion (as plasticity increases, a lower amount of
173 bischofite is required). The upper layer must be prepared with machinery, and
174 moistened until it reaches its optimal humidity, considering the contribution of the
175 magnesium chloride brine. Afterwards, it must be appropriately mixed, distributed and
176 compacted with vibratory roller, with a final spray of bischofite brine (1 lt/m2) to seal
177 the surface. This treatment is more expensive if compared with dust suppressor
178 treatment described before, but it is also more durable and allows heavier traffic.
179
180 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND FIELD ACTIVITIES
181
182 Similar procedures to those outlined before are also used in many countries where
183 magnesium chloride is applied as dust suppressor, like the United States of America (6) (7).
184 This paper is not focused in proposing an innovative methodology to apply this product on
185 unpaved roads, since it has been used in many different places and countries for that
186 purposes. The research in this case was pointed to evaluate the use of bischofite as an
187 economical way to improve environmental conditions and also the quality of unpaved road
188 surfaces, in a geographic area where it has not been widely used before.
189 Although the research already made in Chile about the use of bischofite in unpaved
190 roads allows appreciating the important advantages in their use, an additional evaluation
191 under the Western Argentine conditions was considered necessary, to make in this case a
192 direct comparison between treated and untreated surfaces and their respective performance
193 along a period of many months.
194 The National University of San Juan, through the School of Engineering in Mountain
195 Roads (Escuela de Ingeniería de Caminos de Montaña, EICAM), provided the team of
196 investigators to carry on this research project. They considered not only a technical
197 assessment, but also an economic evaluation taking into account total transportation costs
198 (initial construction – maintenance – user costs), using HDM-4 model.
199 The proposed methodology included the following stages (8):
200
201  Bibliography analysis and research
202  Selection of test sections
203  Initial construction of treated sections
204  Measurement of road roughness and dust emission along time
205  Analysis of results and performance models
206  Economical comparisons between sections
207  Conclusions
208
209 The main results of the first step have been mentioned before, and the next paragraphs
210 describe the principal aspects of the subsequent steps.
211
212 Selection of road sections for field studies
213 After a careful study between different types of sections with unpaved surfaces, the
214 Provincial Road Nº 318, in San Juan Province, was selected for the studies. This road is
215 located 60 km at south from San Juan city, in Sarmiento Department, near “Cañada Honda”
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 6

216 rail station (Fig. 1). The topography is almost flat, with good visibility and adequate drainage
217 conditions, with a gravel surface of 5 cm thickness.
218 The road is situated in a region of vineyards, olives and fruit trees (peaches, almonds,
219 nuts, etc.). It has a daily traffic of around 150 vehicles, with 40% of heavy vehicles, mainly
220 medium trucks, mostly concentrated near the end of the summer, due to harvest season.
221
222
223 Conditioning tasks of selected subsections in P.R. Nº 318
224 A topographic survey of this section was made firstly, identifying and marking with
225 metallic stakes three consecutive subsections of about 500 meters of length each one. From
226 South to North, the first subsection was preserved with untreated surface gravel, beginning at
227 about 1800 m from the intersection between P.R. Nº 318 and National Road Nº 153.
228 In the second subsection, a dust suppressor treatment (DST) was performed, and in the
229 third one, surface layer stabilization was carried out. Bischofite was used in both cases, and
230 these tasks were performed during July 2009. No additional applications of bischofite brine
231 were performed after the construction stage on the treated subsections.
232 Figure 2 shows the successive stages of construction of the test subsections that were
233 already treated, including preparation of bischofite brine and density control. The difference
234 of surface quality between treated and untreated subsections can be clearly observed in Figure
235 3, which shows views of each subsection after the construction period.
236
237 Measurements of performance indicators
238 In order to evaluate the performance of the different subsections along the time, two
239 indicators were measured: Roughness (IRI, International Roughness Index), and dust
240 emission.
241
242 Roughness Measurements
243 To make road roughness measurements, a MERLIN device (Machine for Evaluating
244 Roughness using Low-cost Instrumentation) (9) was constructed and used in this project.
245 Data of surface irregularity were registered in paper sheets especially designed for that
246 purpose, and then processed statistically, to obtain a histogram of data whose base width was
247 used to estimate IRI through equations developed in previous studies (10). Figure 4 shows a
248 picture of measurement process, and an example of the statistical process applied to
249 determine IRI from MERLIN data.
250 Between July 2009 and December 2010, multiple surface roughness measurements
251 were made using MERLIN device. Table 1 shows average IRI values estimated in each
252 opportunity for the three subsections, on the East side lane of the inspected road. At a first
253 stage, treated sections showed a behavior clearly better than untreated gravel subsection, with
254 lower IRI values. Approximately around the fourth month, IRI values become very similar for
255 all the subsections. After that, treated sections show a progressive increase of IRI throughout
256 the months, with a somewhat irregular but steady increasing tendency (Fig. 5).
257 This seems to be logical, since during the first 3 months, the untreated gravel
258 subsection did not receive any maintenance, but later, this subsection was graded with
259 machinery every 20 days, which contributed to improve its IRI values. The subsections
260 treated with bischofite did not receive any type of grading along the whole observation lapse,
261 as it has been previously agreed with the local agency that performed the preservation tasks.
262 The purpose of such decision was to register the evolution of IRI without maintenance for
263 both treated sections during the whole evaluation period, to gain more knowledge about the
264 actual duration of the treatments´ life.
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 7

265 During the first months immediately after construction, the reduction observed in IRI
266 in treated subsections can be explained by the progressive compaction and stabilization of the
267 upper layers under traffic. After that first stage, IRI begins to increase and finally tends to
268 stabilize around an IRI value between 8 and 10 m/km (Fig 5).
269 Slightly higher IRI values were measured for the stabilized surface (3rd subsection) if
270 compared with the 2nd subsection that received a dust suppressor treatment. More
271 deformations were observed in the upper layer of stabilized subsection, probably due to lack
272 of enough thickness and insufficient proportion of coarse material to support heavy loads.
273 The material used to construct upper layers must fall between gradation curves suggested by
274 bischofite suppliers, and in this specific case the fine fraction was higher than it would have
275 been advisable. The subsection treated with DST showed a somewhat better performance in
276 terms of IRI, even when the superficial scab were deteriorating progressively during the
277 period of observations, until it almost disappeared completely at the end of that lapse.
278
279 Dust emission measurements
280 There are two main categories to characterize the adverse effects on human health of
281 dust emitted to the atmosphere, according to particle size (1):
282
283  Inhalable dust (PM10): Inhaled fraction of dust that is usually retained at nose, throat,
284 and upper respiratory routes, with particle diameters around 10 µm.
285  Breathable dust (PM2.5): Smaller particles, with 2.5 µm average diameters, which are
286 not retained and they can penetrate deeply in the lungs. These particles are more
287 dangerous than inhalable dust, and can cause more damage to human health.
288
289 Both particle sizes can be measured with the DustMateTM device. Such apparatus was
290 used in this research project to measure dust emission, and it was adapted to be installed in
291 the rear part of a vehicle, with its sensor located behind the rear left tire and facing the dust
292 directly emitted for that tire (Fig. 6). Dust measurement was registered for both types of
293 particles (PM10 and PM2.5), with the vehicle circulating at constant speed, around 60 km/h.
294 Such measurements were performed in September (Fig. 6) and December 2009, with
295 very similar results in both cases. The apparatus was provided by a Chilean firm for those
296 measurements, but it was not possible to make additional measurements during year 2010,
297 due to logistic reasons.
298 Figure 6 also shows an example of a graphical registry of these readings along the test
299 sections. In this figure, there are clear differences in dust emission in the subsections treated
300 with bischofite, if compared against the values of dust emitted in untreated gravel subsection,
301 demonstrating the effectiveness of the treatments applied as dust reducers.
302
303
304 COMPARATIVE ECONOMIC EVALUATION BETWEEN SUBSECTIONS
305 An economic assessment was made to compare between the different maintenance
306 alternatives for unpaved roads that were evaluated in this research project. To do that, it was
307 necessary to determine road agency costs and road user costs. It was modeled using HDM-4
308 software, based on unit costs updated to 2012 (considering typical values for Argentine
309 conditions), for a 3-year period. The HDM-4 distress models for unpaved roads were adjusted
310 to properly predict the deterioration observed in the field for each subsection.
311
312 Construction and maintenance tasks and costs
313 The following assumptions were considered to define construction or maintenance
314 activities and costs:
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 8

315  Costs of traditional conservation activities for untreated gravel surface, typical values
316 for San Juan (base costs 2012, considering 1 US$ = 5 Argentine pesos):
317 o Grading (with machinery): 380 US$/km
318 o Gravel replacement: 32 US$/m3
319  Initial construction of surface gravel layer with 5 cm thickness has been considered for
320 the three subsections, supposing that all the required come from quarries located
321 outside the road. Therefore, for 1 km of road with 7 m width, the cost would be 32
322 US$/m3 x 0.05 m x 7000 m2 = 11200 US$/km.
323  Surface grading for the untreated subsection was made every 20 days approximately.
324 Annually, it implies a cost of 380 x (365/20) = 6935 US$/km. An annual reposition of
325 2 cm thickness of gravel in the upper part of the surface layer was also assumed for
326 this subsection, to preserve a whole thickness of 5 cm for that layer. It adds a cost of
327 32 US$/m2 x 0.02 m x 7000 m2 = 4480 US$/km. Therefore the total annual
328 maintenance cost for untreated roads is around 11415 US$/km
329  Considering data provided by suppliers, the cost of bischofite delivered at the jobsite
330 and prepared as a brine for irrigations, had an estimated price of about 240 U$S/ton in
331 year 2012. As it was mentioned before, 1000 liters of brine requires 750 kg of
332 bischofite and 500 liters of clean water, so the cost is 240 US$/ton x 0.75 tons = 180
333 US$ per 1000 liters of brine, or 0.18 US$/liter.
334  Dust Suppressor Treatment (DST) requires 4 liters/m2, distributed in four consecutive
335 sprays (1 lt/m2 each one). With a road width of 7 meters, then the cost of irrigation
336 per km is as follows:
337 4 lt/m2 x 0.18 U$S/lt x 7000 m2/km = 5040 US$/km
338  For Surface Layer Stabilization (SLS) the amount of bischofite incorporated to the
339 mix is calculated as a percentage in weight, with respect to the material to be treated.
340 Assuming a maximum dry density of 1700 kg/m3 for the compacted upper layer of 5
341 cm thickness, and supposing it requires 5% bischofite because the material has low or
342 null plasticity, 85 kg/m3 of product are therefore required. It would be:
343 240 U$S/ton x 0.085 ton/m3 x 0.05 m x 7000 m2/km = 7140 US$/km
344 Assuming a final spray of brine to seal the surface, that costs 1260 US$/km, the total
345 cost of SLS would be 8400 US$/km.
346  Some maintenance needs to be applied also in treated sections, as follows:
347 o For DST, maintenance consisting in spot reparation and grading of the upper
348 layer should be applied each semester. An approximate global cost of 400
349 US$/km was considered for these activities, followed by a seal spray of 1
350 lt/m2. Therefore, it implies an annual maintenance cost of (400 + 1260) x 2 =
351 3320 US$/km for DST.
352 o For the stabilized section, a similar maintenance should be applied annually
353 but only after the first year, so the annual maintenance cost since the second
354 year can be assumed as (400 + 1260) = 1660 US$/km.
355
356 Considering all these suppositions, Table 2 indicates the total annual costs per km
357 corresponding to construction and maintenance activities programmed for each alternative,
358 within a period of three years. If only construction costs are considered, untreated gravel
359 roads are obviously more economic; DST costs 45% more money, and surface stabilization
360 (SLS) cost is 75% higher.
361 But if maintenance costs are also included in this 3-year analysis period, calculating
362 net present costs at 12% annual discount rate, the bischofite treatments are clearly more
363 convenient. Comparing these last alternatives, SLS treatment seems to be the less expensive
364 one, according to Table 2. The difference between stabilization and DST, however, is not
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 9

365 very high, and the final selection between both alternatives should consider other issues like
366 machinery availability, traffic type and amount, variations in construction or maintenance
367 quality levels for each specific case, etc. Maintenance programs suggested in this paper can
368 be modified according to local experiences, so the relative convenience can vary.
369
370 Economic assessment including road user costs
371 Also, it is possible to make a social economic evaluation, where the social costs or
372 “shade prices” are considered, as it can be done using HDM-4 software. It would consider not
373 only road agency costs as defined previously, but also road users costs (vehicle operating
374 costs VOC, and time travel costs). Road user costs are incorporated into HDM-4 as shade
375 prices or social costs, so the agency costs must be converted into social costs using a
376 conversion coefficient that was adopted equal to 0.75 for this specific study, according to
377 Argentine conditions.
378 For this evaluation, an AADT of 150 veh/day was considered, as it was indicated
379 before for P.R. Nº 318, with 60% light vehicles, 6% buses and 34% trucks. Fleet costs were
380 adopted from values suggested by the National Road Administration of Argentina, and
381 converted to US dollars using the same conversion rate of 1 US$ = 5 AR$.
382 Road user costs along the evaluation lapse were finally estimated using HDM-4
383 models, that were previously adjusted to reproduce the IRI performance actually observed for
384 the three test subsections, each one representing the expected behavior of different
385 alternatives that can be applied in unpaved roads.
386 Table 3 shows the final results obtained for that evaluation. Considering total
387 transportation costs, the alternatives associated to application of bischofite seem to be clearly
388 more convenient than the traditional untreated gravel. It has also been observed previously
389 when only agency costs were considered (see Table 2), but the difference is even higher in
390 this case, because the improvements in road quality due to use of bischofite imply also
391 important additional savings for road users.
392 In this specific case, the results presented in Table 3 would be slightly better for the
393 DST alternative, due to its lower costs for road users considering that the respective
394 subsection showed a little bit better performance in terms of observed IRI. But again, there is
395 little difference, which depends on many conditioning issues, as it was discussed before. To
396 make more definitive comparisons, further research is required, considering a wider scope of
397 designs in treatments that use bischofite, different levels of traffic, other climate types,
398 variation on gradation curves and materials classes, etc.
399
400 FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
401
402 According to the results of this research project, the following final considerations
403 should be mentioned:
404  When bischofite was used on maintenance treatments for unpaved roads, an important
405 reduction of dust emitted by vehicles was achieved, in the order of 90 to 95% if
406 compared against dust emission in untreated gravel roads. In dry regions like San Juan
407 province, it generates a high reduction in the amount of water required to moisten
408 gravel roads for dust control purposes. Consequently, the use of water tank trucks is
409 also reduced substantially, and the water can be used for more productive objectives
410 or for human consumption.
411  A comparative appraisal performed between treated and untreated unpaved sections
412 demonstrated clearly the convenience of using chemical stabilizers, like magnesium
413 chloride, instead of conventional maintenance of gravel layers. Not only the agency
414 costs are reduced when bischofite treatments are applied, but also there is a noticeable
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 10

415 decrement in road users costs. In terms of net present values for total transportation
416 costs, the savings are in the order of 12 to 14%, considering suitable maintenance
417 plans for all the alternatives.
418  This research did not quantify the benefits associated to the reduction of dust emitted
419 by the vehicles, higher than 90% as it was measured along the project. But in fact,
420 there are many additional benefits, such as reduction in overhead costs for vehicles,
421 decrease of respiratory diseases and hygiene improvements for the population living
422 near the unpaved roads, higher quality of agricultural products collected in a dust-free
423 area, etc. All these are tangible benefits, even when they were not included in the
424 economical evaluations developed so far. Further research would have to quantify and
425 incorporate such benefits into the comparative appraisal.
426  To make a good job during the construction and maintenance of treated sections, the
427 experience generated in this project recommends planning the logistics very well,
428 following carefully the guidelines established by suppliers, and assuring a strong
429 compromise for all the participating organizations. Centralizing the decisions seems to
430 be a very important factor to assure a good quality during the whole process.
431  If effectively a good quality level is maintained along the whole process, the results
432 achieved are very promising. It encourages applying this type of chemical products in
433 other places with similar conditions, since the benefits in road surface quality and dust
434 reduction are evident when compared against untreated gravel roads with traditional
435 maintenance tasks.
436
437 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
438
439 The authors wish to appreciate the collaboration of the companies Vialtec S.A. of
440 Argentina, and SALMAG and DICTUC of Chile, which not only provided the chemical
441 products used during the tests but also offered continuous advising along the project. Support
442 provided by National and Provincial Roads Administrations during the construction and
443 maintenance stages is also recognized. Finally, they express a special gratefulness to the
444 EICAM and to CICITCA of the National University of San Juan, by the support and
445 financing provided for this research.
446
447 REFERENCES
448
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475 8. EICAM (2011): “Evaluación de la Aplicabilidad de Estabilizadores Químicos en
476 Caminos no Pavimentados”. Informe Final del Proyecto de Investigación. Escuela de
477 Ingeniería de Caminos de Montaña, Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Marzo del
478 2011.
479 9. Cundill, M.A. (1991): “The MERLIN Low Cost Road Roughness Measuring
480 Machine”. TRRL Research Report 301. Transportation and Road Research
481 Laboratory, Department of Transport. United Kingdom, 1991.
482 10. Del Aguila, Pablo (1999): “Metodología para la Determinación de la Rugosidad de los
483 Pavimentos con Equipo de Bajo Costo y Gran Precisión”. 10° Congreso Ibero-
484 Latinoamericano del Asfalto, Sevilla-España, Noviembre 1999.
485
486
487
488
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 12

489 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

490
491
492
493 TABLES
494
495 TABLE 1 Average IRI values for each subsection along time
496
497 TABLE 2 Construction and maintenance costs for each alternative, evaluated for a 3-years
498 period. Costs per km, two-lane road, in US dollars
499
500 TABLE 3 Social economic evaluation considering total transportation costs for each
501 alternative, during a 3-years period. Costs per km, two-lane road, in US dollars
502
503
504
505
506 FIGURES
507
508 FIGURE 1 Location of P.R. Nº 318 and Test Subsections in San Juan, Argentina
509
510 FIGURE 2 Construction stages for treated test subsections, P.R. Nº 318
511
512 FIGURE 3 Photographs of test subsections, P.R. Nº 318
513
514 FIGURE 4 Roughness measurements using MERLIN, and an example of statistical data
515 processing
516
517 FIGURE 5 Roughness evolution along time for the three evaluated subsections
518
519 FIGURE 6 DustMateTM device, installation process, and registered measurements for dust
520 emission in the whole section, P.R. Nº 318
521
522 FIGURE 7 Differences between dust emitted in untreated gravel subsection (left), and in one
523 of the treated subsections (right)
524
525
526
527
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 13

528
529
530 TABLE 1 Average IRI values for each subsection along time
Subsections IRI estimated from MERLIN (m/km)
Date Months since Untreated Dust Supressor Surface Layer
Measure Construction Gravel Treatment DST Stabilized SLS
29/07/09 0.3 7.95 5.67 6.30
01/09/09 1.4 9.98 5.22 5.57
30/09/09 2.4 10.48 4.78 5.69
04/11/09 3.6 8.90 7.27 7.48
07/12/09 4.7 7.65 8.04 9.03
30/12/09 5.4 6.78 6.85 7.49
12/02/10 6.9 9.23 8.64 9.68
30/03/10 8.4 9.64 10.42 9.81
03/06/10 10.6 8.75 9.19 10.17
531 28/12/10 17.5 7.73 7.66 9.54

532
533
534
535
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 14

536
537
538 TABLE 2 Construction and maintenance costs for each alternative, evaluated for a 3-
539 years period. Costs per km, two-lane road, in US dollars
ALT. 1: UNTREATED GRAVEL SURFACE Total Present Agency Savings
Calendar
Construction Maintenance Agency Agency Costs with respect to
Year
Costs Costs Costs Disc. Rate: 12% Alternative 1
2012 11 200 11 415 22 615
2013 0 11 415 11 415 $ 41 907 ---
2014 0 11 415 11 415

ALT. 2: DUST SUPRESSOR TREATMENT Total Present Agency Savings

Calendar
Construct. Maintenance Agency Agency Costs with respect to
Year
Costs (*) Costs (*) Costs Disc. Rate: 12% Alternative 1
2012 16 240 3 320 19 560
2013 0 3 320 3 320 $ 25 171 $ 16 736
2014 0 3 320 3 320

ALT. 3: SURFACE LAYER STABILIZED Total Present Agency Savings

Calendar
Construct. Maintenance Agency Agency Costs with respect to
Year
Costs (*) Costs (*) Costs Disc. Rate: 12% Alternative 1
2012 19 600 0 19 600
2013 0 1 660 1 660 $ 22 405 $ 19 501
2014 0 1 660 1 660
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 15

548
549
550 TABLE 3 Social economic evaluation considering total transportation costs for each
551 alternative, during a 3-years period. Costs per km, two-lane road, in US dollars
ALTERNATIVE 1: UNTREATED GRAVEL SURFACE Total Present Social Benefits
Calendar
Construct. Maintenance Vehicle Oper. Travel Time Total Cost (Discount with respect to
Year
Costs (*) Costs (*) Costs (VOC) Costs Costs Rate: 12%) Alternative 1
2012 8 400 8 561 48 477 19 038 84 476
2013 0 8 561 52 130 21 028 81 719 $ 224 399 ---
2014 0 8 561 53 742 21 690 83 993

ALTERNATIVE 2: DUST SUPRESSOR TREATMENT (DST) Total Present Social Benefits

Calendar
Construct. Maintenance Vehicle Oper. Travel Time Total Cost (Discount with respect to
Year
Costs (*) Costs (*) Costs (VOC) Costs Costs Rate: 12%) Alternative 1
2012 12 180 2 490 42 314 15 458 72 442
2013 0 2 490 47 470 18 036 67 996 $ 193 299 $ 31 100
2014 0 2 490 51 843 21 113 75 447

ALTERNATIVE 3: SURFACE LAYER STABILIZED (SLS) Total Present Social Benefits

Calendar
Construct. Maintenance Vehicle Oper. Travel Time Total Cost (Discount with respect to
Year
Costs (*) Costs (*) Costs (VOC) Costs Costs Rate: 12%) Alternative 1
2012 14 700 0 42 855 15 694 73 249
2013 0 1 245 48 928 18 963 69 136 $ 195 780 $ 28 619
2014 0 1 245 52 911 22 114 76 270

552 (*) Considering conversion factor to caculate social costs from private costs equal to 0.75

553
554
555
556
557
558
559
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 16

560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571 FIGURE 1 Location of P.R. Nº 318 and Test Subsections in San Juan, Argentina
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 17

583
584

585
586

587
588

589
590 FIGURE 2 Construction stages for treated test subsections, P.R. Nº 318
591
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 18

592
593

594
595

596
597 FIGURE 3 Photographs of test subsections, P.R. Nº 318
598
599
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 19

600

601
602
Histogram Data MEASUREMENT DATE: 01/09/2009
Number Interval Ranges Quantity
1 17 - 18 2 3rd Section (Surface Stabilized)
2 19 -20 32 P.R. Nº 318 - Eastern Lane
3 21 - 22 61
70
4 23 - 24 49
Nº of Measurem. per interval

5 25 - 26 27 60
6 27 - 28 9
50
TOTAL - 10% = 180
40
Histogram Width = 5,28 intervals
30
5,28 * 5mm * 2 * 2 = 105,6 mm= range 20
105,6 * F.C.= 105,6 MERLIN Units = D
10
REFERENCES: 0
" *5mm ": Unit value, mm 1 2 3 4 5 6
" *2 " : double interval Interval Number
" *2 " : relation 1:5
"F.C. " = 1
ROUGHNESS MEASUREMENT USING MERLIN
IRI estimation from correlation:
IRI = 0.593 + 0.0471 D = 5,57 m/km STABILIZED SUBSECTION - EAST SIDE FROM STAKE PF4
603
604 FIGURE 4 Roughness measurements using MERLIN, and an example of statistical data
605 processing
606
607
608
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 20

609
610
611

14.0
Gravel Dust Supressor Stabilized

12.0
IRI from MERLIN (m/km)

10.0

8.0

6.0

4.0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Months since construction
612
613 FIGURE 5 Evolution of surface roughness along time for the three subsections
614
615
 Bustos, Cordo, Girardi and Pereyra 21

616

617
618

619
620 FIGURE 6 DustMateTM device, installation process, and registered measurements for
621 dust emission in the whole section, September 1st 2009, P.R. Nº 318
622
623
624
625
626