Frampton Rd, Wistow, South Australia

This road passes through a sensitive area of native flora that could not be disturbed. To protect the environment, the council decided to premix the material with BaseBind at a nearby quarry, deliver it to site, and apply it to the road using an asphalt paver.

The road is difficult to maintain, as sections are shaded by large trees on both sides for most of the day. As a result, it retains moisture and remains damp after rain.

The most effective way to mix material on the ground at a quarry is in layers, a layer of untreated material is spread first, then BaseBind mixed with water is applied and another layer of material is laid over the top before it dries. It is important for the BaseBind to coat the fines before drying, so this spray-and-cover method makes the process more efficient, the material is then evenly mixed.

In this case, the quarry used front-end loaders, bringing bucket loads from an untreated stockpile, mixing a batch, and moving it to a treated stockpile, ready to begin the next 250-tonne batch. This ensures the exact same amount of BaseBind is used for every 250-tonne batch.

The blended material was delivered to the Frampton Rd site the next day.

The council had levelled and prepared the road and the material was added to the road as a sheeting material by AAA Asphalt using their paver.

The Frampton Rd area received heavy rain of 60mm followed by more over the following few days.

No damage to the surface at all and especially noticeable under the large trees where large droplets had caused damage previous to the BaseBind treatment.

Other councils have used a grader and water truck, placing a 250-tonne batch in a windrow and pulling it onto the treated layer with a grader blade. The completed batches were then transferred to a stockpile, ready to be taken to the job when needed.

BaseBind also allows the treated product to be stockpiled. The outside of the stockpile will harden and hold the moisture in, while any dry areas will need to be lightly mixed back through so the material can continue to work with BaseBind once on the job.