Archive for the ‘Soil Stabilization’ Category

The Best Choices Will Not Cost, They Will Pay

Posted in Dust Control, Environmental Services Industry, Erosion Control, Soil Stabilization by

ReGeneration Productions is a company whose mission is to “create educational media that communicate the ideals and practice of urban sustainability.”  Their first endeavor, Mission:Sustainable, gives a “green” makeover to individuals needing to integrate sustainable practices into their lives. In a recent blog post titled “Working soil so that soil works for us,” ReGeneration states that they believe that “sustainability comes down to knowing that each choice we make has a ‘cost.’ The true ‘cost’ is a combination of the economic, social and environmental costs set against the offsetting benefits associated with each choice we make.”   This concept has interesting value to the commercial and industrial segment of our earth community.

As stewards of clean air, clean water and human health, our mission is to help make improvements in the work processes used by industrial customers that deliver economic, social and environmental benefits that exceed the cost of those improvements.  The main areas of our work revolve around dust control, especially pm10 and pm2.5 health risks; sediment and erosion control, which pose risks to water and aquatic life; and stabilization that provides the social benefit of smooth, pothole free roadways for area residents while delivering improved business results and operating performance.

The amazing thing is that this is absolutely, positively doable today. There is so much improvement possible with the choices we make in the commercial and industrial arena while providing significant economic and social and environmental returns that we often say, “the best choices will not cost, they will pay.”

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Buyer Beware

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

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

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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