Archive for the ‘Soil Sement’ Category

How to Be the Steward of Your Ash Pond

Posted in Coal Ash Ponds, Soil Sement by Bob Vitale

There certainly is a lot of attention being devoted to coal ash ponds in the media today from the 60 Minutes broadcast to all the recent print coverage. The media of course uncovers a few bad eggs, but we know that the industry itself has been dealing with ash pond management for decades. At Midwest, we have helped utility customers be stewards of their ash ponds for over 30 years. In our company lore and history, everyone at Midwest recalls the phone call we received from a customer on Super Bowl Sunday, January 31, 1993. The Dallas Cowboys played the Buffalo Bills (Dallas won 52-17!), and our utility customer had major problem; their very large ash pond surface had dried and frozen, resulting in it becoming a major source of dust for the local area. I said “we will be there in six hours with at least one crew and equipment and more will follow. And we will not leave until the pond is secure.” For two weeks in sub-zero conditions, our team sealed the pond surface and stopped any and all dust from blowing from it.

Ashpond Puzzle

So what does it take to continually manage and monitor your ash pond to avoid emergencies like this and those mentioned in the media?

-Spray a surface sealant on the pond that penetrates to the desired depth, creating a bonded matrix consisting of the sealant and the ash.

-This bonded matrix locks all fines and particles into the surface matrix and eliminates the root cause, free particles,  from becoming airborne and a nuisance or hazard to the local area.

-Maintain this application cycle on a yearly basis.

We can provide product and guidance for coal ash pond issues or do a complete turnkey installation.


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Buyer Beware

Posted in Dust Control, Environmental Services Industry, Industry Watchdog, Soil Sement, Soil Stabilization by Bob Vitale

I would like to share an interesting story with you. It represents an example of why I believe independent testing of company claims is very important for the purchasers of products from companies within our industry – during the bidding stage, and then again during the delivery stage.

For many years we have been supplying a customer with their requirements for a dust palliative and soil stabilizer. Our multi-year contract just expired and the user has issued a notice of solicitation for current bids to fulfill their requirements. Their solicitation included a detailed performance requirement for the product to pass CBR lab testing for a specific soil type to meet the standards for the customer’s needs. The specification matched our specific product, which they have been using for many years.

In the bidding, a competitor quoted a price approximately 20% below our quoted price. Part of the competitive vendor’s bid information included marketing and test data to prove that their product was equal to the product called for in the specification.

Shortly after the competitor was awarded the new multi-year contract for the delivery and installation of their brand name product, based on being the low bidder, they began communicating with producers of the basic raw materials stating they had just received a multi-year contract and needed to source significant volumes of a non-prime polymer emulsion. Within these communications there was no product chemistry specification that might indicate that what they were trying to source would meet the requirements as called for by the purchaser’s specification.

So here is the issue; since testing and documentation for the specification requirements is typically only required at the bidding stage, and product sampling is NOT required at the delivery stage to assure the exact product specified in the bid is being delivered, the bait and switch can take place and the customer will never know.

It will take due diligence on the part of the customer to catch this bait and switch activity. It will also take significant due diligence to confirm that the environmental soundness of whatever is actually delivered and installed on public roadways is in fact what was represented.

We know that price is an issue and customers need to assure their constituencies that they have done everything possible to obtain the best product solution for the lowest price. We also know customers do not want to “buy price” and close their eyes to product deficiency and possible environmental issues.

This is why it is in the best interest of both the community of users and principled industry leaders to expose such bait and switch activities. This is needed for both the protection of people and the environment in which these products might be used.

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Environmentally Responsible Construction

Posted in Soil Sement, Soil Stabilization by admin

Last year, our Soil Sement® product was used in the construction of the trailhead to the nation’s largest urban nature preserve, Scottsdale’s Lost Dog Wash Trailhead.  The project’s mission statement for the access areas was “to develop environmentally responsible public access areas that borrow from and blend into the natural desert landforms and landscape of each specific Preserve access location.”  A critical element of achieving their mission was salvaging and stockpiling the top four inches of native soil and native “desert pavement” cobble within the limits of disturbance for later redistribution. This allowed the project’s top-dressing to seamlessly integrate into the adjacent coarse and rugged desert floor. In addition, the parking lot areas and vehicular drives were constructed of Soil Sement stabilized decomposed granite, in lieu of traditional paving materials, to increase percolation and minimize surface runoff and heat gain. The Soil Sement-stabilized granite parking areas and trail surfaces utilized screened site soils to match the adjacent colors and textures of the desert floor.

Cast-in-place concrete seating and stabilized granite surface of the amphitheater

Cast-in-place concrete seating and stabilized granite surface of the amphitheater

This site was recently awarded the top Honor Award by the American Institute of Architects, Western Mountain Region and also honored by the American Society of Landscape Architects.   The Professional Awards Jury 2008 comments capture the achievement of this collaborative effort of the landscape architect, architect and the Preserve staff:

“One of the best examples of environmental stewardship we’ve seen this year. The landscape architect is commended for reusing the plant material. The design is regionally appropriate and moves through the landscape with real restraint.”

Our contribution with Soil Sement was lead by EarthCare Consultants and its managing partner Marty Koether. Marty and EarthCare have lifelong experience in paving and 15 years  in stabilization utilizing native materials and innovative stabilization products.

The Lost Dog Wash Trailhead is a real demonstration of the use of modern technology to support the natural environment which is a vital lifestyle and conservation decision and the protection of fragile desert ecology.

See more details from the project in this article from GreenSource Magazine (this link launches a PDF).

EarthCare Consultants and Midwest add our congratulations to the project resources:

Owner:
City of Scottsdale

Landscape Architect:
Floor Associates, Inc.

FA Project Team:
Christopher Brown, Project Principal
Rick Jones, Senior Project Manager
Mike Faulkner, Alex Howell, Rayka Robrecht

 Architect:
Weddle Gilmore Architects
Philip Weddle, AIA

Civil Engineer:
DMJM

General Contractor:
Valley Rain Construction

Rammed Earth Contractor:
Rammed Earth Solar Homes

Steel Contractors:
Kovak, Inc.
Cave’s Canopies

Photovoltaic:
American Solar Electric

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Alternative to Paving Roads

Posted in Community Roads, EK35, EnviroKleen, Road Oyl, Soil Sement by Bob Vitale

I recently read an article in Public Works Online, originally printed in Hernando Today (part of the Tampa Tribune), which described the use Federal stimulus funds allocated to the county to repave roads. Members of the community with massive potholes near their property and poor road conditions were irate with the choice by the county to use these funds to repave roads that they consider to still be in good shape but needing “preventative maintenance.”

There are alternatives to paving for secondary unpaved roads that can deliver high quality roads at 20% of the cost of paved roads. Stabilization products are available that provide new levels of structural performance for silty sand / soil materials.

New road stabilization products can deliver results for residents that live on unpaved roads at a ratio of 3 to 5 miles of dust free, pothole free unpaved secondary roads per mile of paved road.

Given the limited availability of funds for road construction, the enormous demand for road repairs on unpaved residential roads, and maintenance for existing paved roads, this new road stabilization method can deliver great value for federal and taxpayer dollars. 

Construction specifications for these stabilization materials can be widely employed with reasonable confidence in our experience. Below is a picture of an unpaved roadway using one of our soil stabilization products:

Stabilized Unpaved Residential Road

Stabilized Unpaved Residential Road

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