Recycling and stabilising services
As paving materials sourced from naturally occurring reserves become an increasingly scarce resource, recycling and/or modification of insitu or readily available non-standard materials is an innovative and value for money solution for maintaining our road network.
RoadTek delivers a range of services associated with soil and pavement modification including recycling, modifying, stabilising and additive spreading.
Blending existing material with various stabilising agents can improve the soil and/or road pavement structure in a more cost effective manner than importing new layers of subgrade and pavement material. RoadTek has had success with stabilising projects using non-standard materials varying from sandy loams to black soil, up to depths of 300mm.
The recycling and stabilising process
Recycling materials is the process of mixing material insitu with a road stabiliser machine whilst incorporating moisture if required, then re-compacting the material to improve the road profile and road performance.
Modifying and Stabilising are both forms of recycling, which incorporate an additive to provide additional strength and lasting quality to the insitu materials. This process increases the life of the material which can reduce the road's long-term maintenance costs and provide a safer road surface for motorists. The difference between modifying and stabilising is the amount of additive incorporated during the process rendering the material flexible (modified) or rigid (stabilised)
Existing materials can be modified with various percentages of additive, providing a cost effective alternative to importing new pavement material. This allows for larger areas of the network to be widened and/or rehabilitated from the same funding allocation.
Additives on stabilising projects include cement, cement/slag blends, cement/fly ash blends, Triple (cement/fly ash/lime) blends, hydrated lime, quick lime and foamed bitumen
During preconstruction, tests are performed on the material, determining which additive and application rate should be used to maximise the longevity and quality of the pavement.
Equipment
All RoadTek stabilisers have the capacity to stabilise to a depth of 500mm and have variable moisture control to enable the moisture to be altered progressively if required.
All stabilisers are able to operate with a spreader truck to spread the additive. RoadTek stabilisers satisfy the Transport and Main Roads plant requirements standards MRTS [07 + 115] applicable to stabilising.
RoadTek spreader trucks have a 14-tonne legal capacity and a computerised distribution system. The computerised powder distribution system (operated from inside the cab) ensures consistent spread of the additive.
Delivering successful projects
Through its stabilising services RoadTek works in partnership with a variety of stakeholders, with stabilising crews delivering projects throughout the state.
The Accelerated Road Rehabilitation Program on the Dawson Highway
The project involved the rehabilitation of 650,000m2 of the Dawson Highway east and west of Biloela. The project achieved an average productivity rate of 4,000m2 – 6,200m2 per day. This rate was maintained for the full six-and-a-half-month project duration, well above the estimated production rate.
The Injune Project
The project required widening and rehabilitating both sides of 4.36km of the Carnarvon Highway at Injune, with two layers of pavement material. Limited availability of pavement material meant the original design could not be achieved.
RoadTek proposed an alternative involving stabilising the existing shoulder material to use as the sub-base pavement layer and importing additional material to form the base pavement layer. This innovative solution reduced costs for pavement material supply and provided a better quality product.
Burke Development Road
The Burke Development Road was a major rehabilitation project which involved full width stabilisation of 36 kilometres at the Burke and Wills 3-way intersection near Cloncurry.
Greenvale Project
Over an 18-month period from 2021 to early 2023, RoadTek successfully executed a program of stabilising works on the Gregory Developmental Road (98B).
Collaborating closely within the department in the project's initial stages, RoadTek provided alternative construction methodologies for the pavement. This included insitu stabilization of the subgrade, subbase and base course, with increased use of the existing pavement material. RoadTek worked with the department's materials lab to conduct early pavement testing and validate the design through on-site construction methods.
The project accomplished the stabilization of 15km, and due to construction efficiencies, an additional 2.5km could be completed, resulting in overall program savings.
More information
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Telephone: (07) 3066 5430
- Last updated 03 January 2024