Evaluation of alternate surfacing systems for temporary and intermittent use roads

Graduation date: 1986The purpose of this study was to provide the USDA-Forest Service,\ud Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and other agencies or industries\ud that may deal with temporary and intermittent use roads with\ud the necessary background information for the identification, economic\ud evaluation, and selection of the alternate surfacing systems and to\ud determine the applicability and cost effectiveness of each system\ud compared with crushed aggregate roads. Alternate systems considered\ud include those which: 1) are capable of being moved as the hauling or\ud mining activity moves, 2) degrade after use, and 3) significantly\ud reduce the amount of rock required.\ud A comprehensive market and literature search was performed.\ud Potential surfacing types identified in this study are biodegradable\ud materials, chemical stabilization, geotextile or geogrid separation,\ud marginal aggregates, sand-sealed subgrade, metal mats, reusable\ud aggregate with or without geotextile separation, membrane-encapsulated\ud soil layer (MESL), and Geoweb stabilization. Numerous properties\ud of these materials are evaluated, including size, weight, cost,\ud expected performance, mechanical properties, and availability.\ud A two-step evaluation procedure is developed. First is the\ud preliminary evaluation step, which screens various alternate materials\ud based on their characteristics, limitations, and availability.\ud The second step is economic evaluation, which determines the most\ud feasible economical alternatives. Two examples are analyzed to\ud describe the evaluation procedure. The results of this analysis\ud indicate that alternate surfacings can be economical compared to\ud aggregate in most situations.\ud A probabilistic approach using the Beta estimation procedure is\ud recommended for the analysis and evaluation of the uncertainty associated\ud with various elements of the alternate surfacings. Furthermore,\ud a detailed sensitivity analysis is performed for crushed aggregate\ud and soil stabilization surfaces.\ud The results of this research indicate that the feasible alternatives\ud for surfacing temporary and intermittent use roads are biodegradable\ud materials, soil stabilization, marginal aggregates, conventional\ud geotextile and extruded plastic mats, steel mats (M8A1),\ud and sand-sealed native subgrade